Southern Christian Coalition opposes legislation targeting transgender youth
Pastors affiliated with the Southern Christian Coalition are condemning legislation that would effectively eliminate gender affirming healthcare for transgender youth in Tennessee.
The group is specifically targeting the language in Senate Bill 1 that defines gender affirming healthcare for individuals under 18 years of age as child abuse.
Rev. Josh Scott of Gracepointe Church explained that the group seeks to provide love and support to all youth.
"I believe that no matter where we live, the color of our skin, who we love, or our gender identity, all we want is the freedom to be ourselves," Scott said. "Yet we see that the Supermajority in the TN State Legislature are people trying to punish kids and their parents for being themselves by not only banning gender affirming healthcare across the state but also considering it child abuse if parents pursue out of state care for their children.
Scott labeled efforts to restrict gender affirming care as "immoral."
"It's not only abhorrent and immoral for the state to make parents criminals for seeking out what the medical community labels as standard of care for their children, but it is dangerous and deadly. Tennessee already has a suicide rate that is 30% higher than the national average and trans youth are at especially high risk of suicide. As a father, a Christian pastor, and frankly, just as a human, I am calling on our state legislature to stop their slate of hate against our LGBTQ+ community across Tennessee and instead love their neighbors as themselves as Christ has called us to do."
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