Puberty blockers for trans kids: Unequal access is producing damaging disparities.

This piece originally appeared in the Conversation.
For people who have never thought about it before, it might sound reasonable to require trans kids to wait until they’re adults before they can receive certain forms of care known as gender-affirming treatment—which is what legislation that just passed in Arkansas does. But this type of legislation actually prevents kids from accessing treatment before and during a crucial period of development: puberty.
When I was researching my book
The Trans Generation: How Trans Kids and Their Parents are Creating a Gender Revolution, I observed how not all trans kids can access the care they want or need during this critical stage of life. This unequal access to gender-affirming health care, which occurs across state lines and socioeconomic divides, could cause two “classes” of transgender people in the United States to emerge—those who are able to take hormone blockers, and those who aren’t able to do so. Those in the latter group can endure more financial hardship, physical pain and mental anguish later in life, while becoming much more vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

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