I am a retired child psychologist. Kentucky's anti-trans bill is legislative malpractice
Trans persons were virtually unknown to my generation. Many people find the phenomenon unsettling. Capitalizing on such fear, Senate Bill 150 and House Bill 470 could institutionalize life threatening discrimination against youth on a very difficult journey of exploration.
For years, gay youth wrestled with the allure of suicide in response to agonizing rejection−especially from peers or family. It took decades and the courage of those who “came out” for us to realize valued persons among our families and friends were gay. Let’s not revive such pain for youth who find their deepest identity at odds with their physical gender. Though unfamiliar to many, options now exist to help those youth. In earlier times, many in our society insisted people inclined to be left-handed be retrained as right-handed.
More:Kentucky House advances bill to ban gender transition services for trans youths
If House Bill 470 were in place when I was a practicing child psychologist, I could have lost my license.
In 1978, I saw my first convincingly trans youth. I contacted experts at Johns Hopkins University where they generously provided staff to guide me. Later the family and youth worked directly with Johns Hopkins. Standards for trans treatment were cautious and thorough. Living for an extended period in the gender role the youth desired (name, pronouns, dress...) was not a final step but part of serious screening for a serious choice. HB 470 broadly criminalizes almost any assistance to trans youth prior to age 18 and is tantamount to legislative malpractice, a phenomenon for which there are truly no standards.
T. Kerby Neill, Ph.D. is a retired child psychologist who lives in Lexington.
More Opinion:I am the mom of a transgender child. How will it hurt you to let my daughter be herself?
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Child psychologist: Kentucky anti-trans bill legislative malpractice
