Governor Bill Lee signed two bills yesterday that protect minors from harmful medical mutilation and that criminalize exposing them to drag show performances with “male or female impersonators.”
SB 1 prohibits licensed health care professionals, establishments, and facilities from giving puberty blockers or hormone therapies to minors as well as offering to perform or performing medical procedures done for the purpose of “enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”
Doctors can also be sued by a parent who did not consent to their minor child’s treatment. This bill also allows a minor who is injured as a result of these medical mutilating procedures to bring a lawsuit against the doctor and also the parents if they gave consent on behalf of the child.
The law takes effect July 1, 2023, and any current ongoing medical procedures must cease by March 31, 2024.
Governor Lee also signed SB 3, the first legislation of its kind in the country, which makes it an offense for a person who engages in an “adult cabaret performance” on public property or other location where it could be viewed by a minor.
The bill defines an “adult cabaret performance” to include “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration.”
This law also takes effect on July 1, 2023. A first violation of this offense is a Class A misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of this offense is a Class E felony.
