Thread by @ErinInTheMorn

In three minutes, the Tennessee House Health Subcommittee will hear a bill that would medically detransition all trans youth.

It is part of a two-day blitz against trans people. The senate is expected to hear this bill tomorrow.

I expect fireworks. Watch with me. 🧵

A reminder that my work is only possible because of people like you. Subscribe to my newsletter where I report on all of these bills in depth, and please consider supporting my work. I will be clipping this hearing in case anything major occurs.

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erininthemorn.substack.com

If you would like to watch and follow along to live react with me and discuss what happens, please go here to watch. The bill will be HB0001 and it will be the last one heard:

tnga.granicus.com/player/event/6…

The hearing has begun and the chair is stating that they will kick out anyone in the audience for outbursts.

Earlier today, another committee passed a drag ban to the full committee.

This committee will move through two unrelated bills before arriving at HB0001.

For the record: I am expecting bills around HB0001 and SB0001 will be the most intensely debated bills and could wind up being some of the worst bans of any bill.

There is a bad amendment I will be watching out for. I don't expect it today, but rather tomorrow. We will see.

They unanimously push the first bill forward. They are racing to get to HB0001.

While waiting, I have Tennessee ranked as one of the "worst" states for anti-trans legislation. In recent years they have pushed surgery bans and even a law that said bathrooms had to put up warning signs. See my legislative risk map:

erininthemorn.substack.com/p/updated-anti…

We are now moving to the main bill of the day, HB0001.

The representative is announcing an amendment to the bill. I believe this may be the terrible amendment that would outlaw going out of state for gender affirming care and make it child abuse.

erininthemorn.substack.com/p/tennessee-am…

I had the scoop on this amendment and expected it. It was NOT an announced amendment. This will make the bill MUCH worse and will make it the most cruel bill in the country. It will take trans kids from parents.

Political detransitioner Chloe Cole is sitting in the background. She has appeared beside Proud Boys and showed up to Matt Walsh's anti-trans rally in Nashville attended heavily by right wing militants.

Now the representative is talking about how the bill prohibits getting medication across state lines.

Likewise, he makes the announcement: this bill would be found to be abuse.

The speaker is claiming that there is no evidence that gender affirming care reduces suicide. This is not true.

From the journal Pediatrics, a 73% reduction:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

There are dozens of articles released in the last few years showing a reduction in suicide risk. Here is another, showing a 40% drop in suicide attempts. This study had a 9k sample size:

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1470807086632251394?s=20

Here's another one showing a similar drop in suicidality:

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1481621070448939010

The Democrat, Rep Jernigan, is asking about intersex folks:

The bill's sponsor states that intersex surgeries, nonconsensual on youth, ARE allowed.

He is pointing out that minors have to be pulled off hormones with a hard date of 1 year.

This bill is so cruel.

"Children on hormones right now will be harmed either way"

God this is such a bad bill.

Rep Bo Mitchell is finding areas where they can split the difference.

But this representative is not likely to go in the direction of allowing puberty blockers and hormones, given the representative is now submitting towards child abuse provisions.

The leader of the committee is calling the Democratic Representative's questions "outrageous"

The Democratic is talking about gynecomastia, and how this bill does not ban surgery on that, even though it's "cosmetic" and "gender affirming."

Rep Mitchell:

"Every major medical association has agreed that this area of medicine is accepted."

The committee is now voting on amendment 1:

only ONE no vote on it.

Amendment 1, which would ban out of state care and make it child abuse, is now on the bill.

This is now the worst bill targeting trans youth currently being heard.

Rep Mitchell:

"I have research paper after research paper showing gender affirming care saves lives. I'm offering an amendment to remove hormones and puberty blockers from this bill."

Rep Mitchell is doing all he can but this committee is dominated by Republicans who are inclined to pass it.

Rep Mitchell is now forwarding an amendment that would ban cosmetic surgeries like breast implants on ALL minors, not just trans ones.

Watch the Republicans vote this one down.

Leader Lamberth is saying he is against this amendment.

Of course he is.

Apparently, not allowing cisgender teens to get cosmetic surgery would be "harmful." But not allowing transgender people to have medically necessary hormone therapy is fine.

Republicans vote to allow cosmetic surgeries for cisgender teens and not trans ones.

"There is limited time, and we will have three speakers on the issue."

Not sure if that is 3 speakers total, or 3 at a time. In the House we saw they brought up 3 at a time.

We have our first testimony:

The witness is stating that the legislation was announced after a bomb threat made to a children hospital incited by a conservative activist trying to get a bill like this through committee, and that this bill will make that more common.

"This legislation was announced as a reward of the bomb threat and jeopardizes our national security."

Chase Strangio is testifying!!!!

(Also the Republican gendered him properly!)

"This represents government overreach and intrude on the fundamental rights of parents, as well as equal protection rights of transgender adolescents and the doctors that care for them."

"Many of the legislative findings in this bill were just tested and found untrue in court."

"It is also not true that care has been banned in Finland, Sweden, or the United Kingdom. In fact, in the UK, care has been expanded to regional centers. Doctor Cass has been clear that her report has been misrepresented."

"I cannot think of a greater intrusion in the rights of parents than the prospect of losing custody of ones child."

(clapping)

"I know we will be hearing from Miss Cole later, I have heard her before, I don't think she will testify that her parents were to blame. Multiple people were to testify today but now they are too afraid."

"This law will trigger strict or heightened scrutiny, and it will be your burden to defend it in court. Tennessee, like Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas will not be able to do so"

CHASE IS KILLING IT! I know what my substack will be on.

Chase is like a young Atticus Finch at this moment. He knows he's testifying to people who are not with him, but he is not testifying to the committee, he is testifying to humanity.

Y'all go follow him @chasestrangio

"The Supreme Court of Texas, the 8th Circuit, these are not places where transgender ideology has taken home," and yet trasngender people are winning against these bill sthere.

Chloe Cole is now speaking. She has, by the way, lately turned to advocacy against things like birth control, abortion, etc.

She's part of Matt Walsh's crew and also hangs out with Proud Boys.

She's a right wing grifter through and through and flies from hearing to hearing.

Chloe seemed a little rattled to follow up on Chase Strangio.

This bill would, by the way, have charged her parents with child abuse. Something that she likely would not have liked.

I've watched Chloe testify a lot and it was not her strongest speech.

Unfortunately this committee is stacked against us.

Rep Sherrell with inflammatory language:

"If you don't know what you are, male or female, just go in the bathroom and look in the mirror"

Fuck this guy.

The subcommittee has just voted to send the bill to the full health committee.

They took three pieces of testimony.

Terrible.

A Tennessee committee has just voted to send to full committee a bill that defines gender affirming care as child abuse and would ban people from getting that care out of state.

It is the HARSHEST anti-trans legislation being heard in any state.

Terrible.

I was the first person to write about this amendment. If you want to support my reporting here and my work, please go and subscribe. I will later be writing a newsletter on this very hearing and Chase's speech, among other things.

erininthemorn.substack.com/p/tennessee-am…