At least 20 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for trans minors, though several are embroiled in legal challenges.
On an early morning in June, Flower Nichols and her mother set off on an expedition to Chicago from their home in Indianapolis.Families around the U.S. are scrambling to navigate new laws that prohibit their transgender children and teenagers from accessing gender-affirming care
The family was determined to make it feel like an adventure in the city, though that wasn't the primary purpose of the trip. On June 16, a federal judge blocked parts of Indiana's law from going into effect on July 1. But many patients still scrambled to continue receiving treatment. "What transgender expansive young people need is what all young people need: They need love and support, and they need unconditional respect," said Robert Marx, an assistant professor of child and adolescent development at San José State University. Marx studies support systems for LGBTQ+ and trans people aged 13 to 25. "They need to feel included and part of a family."
"Most parents exist in a kind of gray area," Marx said. "Most parents are going through some kind of developmental process themselves as they come to understand their child's gender." "I remember that I really disliked my name," Flower said of her birth name. "This is just like who I am. It's all that I have a memory of."
Flower, for her part, appreciates being heard. She said she and her parents make medical decisions together because, "of course, they can't decide on a medicine for me to take." When Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill banning hormone therapy for anyone younger than 18, he accused "radical activists" of pushing a "sick and twisted ideology that seeks to convince our kids they're in the wrong body."
Walker's memories of the anguished period when he started puberty at 12 still haunt him. "My body couldn't handle what was happening to it," he said. As Walker's moving date approaches, Rives savors the moments the family shares together. She braces for the physical distance that will soon be between them. Her two younger sons will lose Ray's brotherly presence in their daily lives."We know that's an incredibly privileged position to be in," Rives said of her son moving to Virginia. "Most people in Mississippi cannot afford to just move to another state or even go to another state for care.
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