On Thursday, March 23, Governor Kemp signed the dangerous SB 140 into law. This legislation will not only restrict access to life-saving, gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, including hormone therapy and surgical procedures, but will also criminalize medical providers for administering gender-affirming care.
In response, executive director Jeff Graham issued the following statement:
"We are heartbroken to share that Governor Kemp signed SB 140 into law today. This legislation is a clear attack on the rights of transgender children, their parents, and the medical community in Georgia as a whole.
Parents, working in collaboration with their medical teams and adhering to standards of care, should be able to make decisions regarding their child's healthcare. In an especially egregious move, legislators have chosen to criminalize medical providers for following established standards of care. This threatens an already vulnerable medical system in Georgia by weighing political showmanship over fact-based, scientific evidence.
We are grateful for the hundreds of parents, medical providers, transgender youth, and supporters who showed up at the Capitol over the last few weeks, and the thousands of Georgians from across the state who took action to urge their elected officials to oppose the bill. With nearly 10,000 messages sent to elected officials opposing SB 140, it is clear that this new law is out of line with the majority of Georgians on this issue.
During a year of unprecedented, coordinated national attacks on LGBTQ rights, we are truly heartbroken to see these attacks succeed in Georgia. We know that Georgia is better than this, and that the majority of Georgians stand with us on the right side of history.
Most importantly, to the transgender and non-binary youth of Georgia: we see you, we love you, and we will never give up fighting for you.
We will not be moving forward with the Veto SB 140 rally planned for next week, but instead will be putting our resources toward supporting the existing events leading up to Transgender Day of Visibility. Supporting the leadership of the broader transgender community is extremely important at this time. More information about those events will be shared in the coming days."