Debate gets personal, as Idaho House passes trans youth medical care bill

A mostly party-line vote sent legislation to criminalize providing youth care on to Idaho Senate

By Audrey Dutton Idaho Capital Sun

Two Idaho legislators on Feb. 14 described how they felt upon learning that a family member was transgender. Their surprise and confusion gave way to acceptance and empathy, they said, as they came to understand what it meant for their loved one to identify as a gender that differed from the sex they were assigned at birth.

But when it came time to vote on a bill to make medical care for gender dysphoria in youth a felony, they came down on opposite sides — with one legislator voting with the House Republican majority to ban trans care for Idaho minors, including hormone therapy, “puberty blocker” medications and surgeries.

The bill passed on a party-line vote — with all 11 House Democrats opposed and 58 House Republicans in support. Mountain Home Rep. Matthew Bundy was the only Republican to vote against the bill. It now heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, is the bill’s sponsor. Similar legislation from Skaug passed the House last year but failed in the Senate.

On the House floor Feb. 14, he said House Bill 71 is “not a religious crusade” but was “following the science.”

Skaug likened gender-affirming care for trans youth to eugenics, the pharmaceutical opioid crisis and “other things that were popular in medical circles … that now we know were evil, outright evil,” he said.

Rep. Colin Nash, a Democrat from Boise, spoke against the bill.

He described learning that a sibling was transgender. The feeling of being born into the wrong physical body was “foreign” to him, he said.

A member of his wife’s family also died by suicide “over issues related to their transgender status,” he said.

“And although I may not understand it, I believe them, that they feel differently and they want the world to see them differently,” he said.

But the legislation didn’t seem to reflect what he saw with his own family, he said.

“The surgeries that are [described in the bill] are not something that I saw in the standard of care for my own sibling — and, largely, that care is helping a child feel understood, accepted and helping them to a place where they can safely make these decisions on their own,” Nash said.

Legislation is ‘reaching too far,’ said House Republican Rep. Lori McCann, R-Mountain Home, seemed at first to oppose the bill as she spoke of “standing alone as a Republican” during the floor debate.

“I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this bill, I’ve wrestled with it, I’ve talked with professionals, I’ve talked with medical folks, parents, I’ve talked with actual transgender people, and I want them to know that I care, I feel for them,” she said. “And [gender dysphoria] is real. It is something that is real, that we all need to try to understand.”

When she learned that an adult family member came out as transgender, she said, “my first reaction was, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, this can’t be happening. How does one get married, and then want to become a man?’ … I had a hard time wrapping my head around this.”

Now, she said she would “do traveling along the Sandpoint-Dover pathway to the envisioned intersection east of Boyer and Pine, where it would then join U.S. 2.

Many residents — including former city officials — have pushed back against the concept, citing its similarities to an earlier, similar proposal known as “the Curve,” which the Idaho Transportation Department fronted in 2011 and the city rejected in 2013. Community concern then centered anything I can to make life easier for them, to get through day-to-day.”

McCann also described a recent meeting with a transgender teen girl and parents of trans youth, she said. They agreed that surgeries should wait until a person is 18, she said.

“However, there was tears, there was very uncertain futures that they also shared with me — that if they were not allowed to have the medications necessary to help them on their journey, that it would be devastating for them,” McCann said.

McCann said she would support the bill if it stopped at making surgeries a felony. But it reaches beyond that to include medications and hormone treatments that can be, but aren’t always, prescribed for minors with gender dysphoria. And that made her conflicted, she said.

She imagined what she would do if one of her children or grandchildren was struggling with gender dysphoria as a child.

“Well, I would fight like allget-out to get them the treatment, whatever that is that they need,” she said, adding that she fears Idaho parents will use “alternative means” to obtain medications for their kids.

She said the Legislature is “jumping the gun and … reaching too far” into the realm of parents’ authority.

In the end, though, McCann said the surgery component of the bill was important enough that she would support it.

The trans-youth medical care on the size of the project, with opposition specifically to the notion of a five-lane U.S. 2 through the western edge of town, as well as impacts to surrounding businesses. bill now heads to Senate Democrats in the House, and McCann raised concerns about whether the bill is based in part on misinformation or misunderstanding about the health care provided to Idaho youth with gender dysphoria.

Those concerns have been in part repeated with reference to the Couplet, though city planners say it’s necessary to plan for as big a project as possible, lest ITD determines the highway needs to be widened and will come in with its own preferred option, which remains the formerly rejected Curve design.

“I would like to talk a little bit about what gender-affirming care is, because I think it’s unfamiliar for most of us,” said Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise.

Necochea said that sex-reassignment or gender-confirmation surgeries are not currently performed in Idaho — or considered to be “standard of care” for children and teens.

Very few surgeons in the U.S. specialize in the procedures to create facsimiles of female or male body parts and facial features. None of those surgeons are based in Idaho, according to provider directories.

“For young kids, gender-affirming care is therapy, psychological assessments, social transition,” such as supporting a child to wear different clothes or hair styles, Necochea said.

“It might not be until years later when puberty is starting to happen that they start to consider puberty blockers,” she said.

“There are no studies showing clinically significant changes to bone density or brain development or any of the other things asserted in this statute, and it is concerning that we have factual inaccuracies — that are contrary to mainstream medical consensus — being proposed, proposing we are going to write this

“We need to make sure that we are accommodating what future demand is telling us it’s going to be,” said Preston Stinger, a transportation planner with Fehr and Peers, with which the city has contracted, at the Feb. 1 meeting.

Councilor Jason Welker noted at the Feb. 1 meeting that ITD’s own analysis doesn’t foresee the need to widen U.S. 2 until 2055.

While the March 15 workshop will not include public participation, Stapleton told the council Feb. 15 that it could in the future into statute,” Necochea said. decide to schedule another meeting in which residents are invited to take part in the discussion — after the informational session, however.

Hormone therapies are introduced later. Medical providers say those medications may affect fertility and do cause irreversible changes — a deepened voice from taking testosterone, for example.

Some observational studies and medical experts say that pressing pause on puberty could have longterm effects on physical development. But the effects can be reversed or mitigated by stopping the medication.

Puberty blockers are not supposed to be prescribed to minors on a whim; the patient must have “a long-lasting and intense pattern of gender nonconformity or gender dysphoria,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

The gender clinic at Oregon Health Sciences University describes some of the effects in its patient handout on puberty blockers — noting that they are meant to be used for a limited time and monitored by health care providers to lessen the risks.

“Researchers have not finished studying how safe puberty blockers are in the long term. So, there might be some risks that doctors do not yet know about,” the handout states.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

“After council has that information and if there will be further actions, we can discuss that at a future council meeting,” she said.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad agreed.

“We’ll all be in a position where we can make the best decision,” he said.

Barbs:

• It’s always infuriating when I hear far-right Idaho lawmakers campaign on “freedom” and “rights for the people,” then juxtapose those rallying cries with what they’re actually doing to the people of Idaho (as well as their counterparts in the rest of the nation), which is blatantly reducing rights. The Idaho GOP is currently trying to limit the requirements for people to vote in Republican primaries, taking away the right for voters to use student IDs to vote and severely restricting the right for people to vote using absentee ballots (read more about that on Page 22).

They have banned abortions in Idaho and are attempting to eliminate rape and incest provisions as well. They are trying to make it a felony to provide health care to transgender youths, as well as criminalizing the act of transporting a minor to another state to obtain an abortion.

They are introducing bills that make subjective calls on what books libraries won’t be able to carry. They are attempting to eliminate Medicaid expansion, which 61% of voters supported in 2018. They are promoting bills that eliminate sex education before fifth grade, as well as promoting the so-called “school choice” campaign backed by billionaires who want to do away with public education funding. The list goes on and on. I don’t see an expansion of rights here. I see rights being taken away from Idahoans at an alarming pace. And it’s not just here. Look at what Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida for a glimpse of what’s to come in the Gem State. Whether it’s the “Don’t Say Gay” bill or the failed attempt to force student athletes to report their menstrual histories on highschool medical forms, this is not what a government by the people, for the people is supposed to be about. If we aren’t able to stand up to these extremists and vote them out of office, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble in the years to come.

If someone campaigns on the premise of supporting your rights, ask for the receipts, don’t just believe their tired slogans and empty words.

We’re smarter than this.

Dear editor,

I read with interest the article in the February 9th issue of the Reader concerning the City Beach goose hunt. The whole idea of having a hunt at the beach is disturbing to me, but reading the article made me feel even more disturbed.

Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon gave a report to the City Council on the mid-December to mid-January hunt. He stated, “those guys had an absolute blast.” This comment shocked me, actually, as it seems so cavalier.

Not being a hunter myself I looked up what is ethical hunting? A Google search yielded this definition. In part it said, “...show respect for all wildlife.” Police Chief Coon’s comment certainly lacked any respect for the life or lives taken. This is disheartening.

Cynthia Mason Hope

Dear editor, Let’s see how Coeur d’Alene Republican Rep. Joe Alfieri’s anti-voting push could play out over the next election and afterward. Jumping in our time machine, we see these headlines in future editions of the Reader:

“Idaho Republican Party to Eliminate Primaries for all State Elections.” Since only candidates approved by the Republican Central Committees are to be voted on, the cost and time invested in a primary is a complete waste of time.

Two weeks later: “GOP Decides to Eliminate General.” Since it is a foregone conclusion that the Republican candidates will be elected, they will automatically take seats in Boise. Also, it has been decided that there will no longer be absentee ballots, as they present too many chances for fraudulent non-Republican-approved candidates to get unapproved votes.

Jumping to January 2025: “Legislature Decides all Citizen Ballot Measures Need Legislative Approval.”

Other stories: “Idaho Senate President Forms ‘Citizens Morals Committee’ Chaired by Sen. Scott Herndon.” A month later, this edict is published in all Idaho newspapers: “Henceforth, only books approved by a simple majority of both chambers of the Idaho Legislature will be placed in tax-supported libraries. Furthermore, cable, satellite and streaming providers, and movie theaters will be required to present their programming schedule to the state for approval.”

Examples of TV programs not meeting the Morals Committee standards: The Andy Griffith Show, because the deputy officer is presented in an incompetent manner while the sheriff does not carry a firearm nor uses body armor. Other shows banned: M*A*S*H, as it rebels against authority figures; The Twilight Zone, as it makes too many people think outside the boundaries of accepted norms; and Star Trek, which encourages a “woke” sense of diversity.

A full list of other banned shows and movies will be posted on the state’s website.

Lawrence Fury Sandpoint

Senate bill would give Boise control over Priest River’s future…

Dear editor, I oppose Idaho Senate Bill 1021. Written by Scott Herndon and pushed with no consultation among numerous stakeholders or state management agencies, SB1021 is sponsored largely by out-of-state, deep-pocketed seasonal visitors to Priest Lake. Many have never visited the 45-mile-long Priest River, which this bill will impact.

I’ve lived on the Priest River for 45 years, watching the river change drastically for the worse. Around July 4, 2021, water temperatures rose to 83 degrees. The 2021 warmup resulted in a fish kill. Rotten fish washed up at our spot, disgusting, bacteria-ridden and stinking. In 2001, brown rock-snot, (didymo) began to cover the entire length and width on our span of the river. In 2005, IDEQ’s Glenn Rothrock said this was the result of warm temperature and sediment loading, saying IDEQ and IDFG did not have resources to mitigate unless citizens demanded it. He feared that would take too long, making the problem irreversible.

People are finally getting informed and want to save the river. Grassroots organization Priest River Watershed Group, with Trout Unlimited, has formed to advocate this. The cold water bypass from Priest Lake, proposed by IDFG, is the best hope for the fish, animals, benthic invertebrates and other creatures needing a healthy river.

After decades of research, IDFG, Portland State University, McMillen Jacobs Associates and Advance Eco-Solutions have determined that no negative impacts to Priest Lake would occur from a CWB.

SB1021 would give Boise control over this. There already exists a strong network of state control with various agencies that regulate water quality. More state control removes North Idaho citizens’ right to address local issues. This will be voted upon soon.

Please contact the Idaho Resource and Conservation Committee at 208-332-1136 or hres@house.idaho.gov. Tell them to oppose SB1021. Locals don’t need more government interference.

Betty Gardner Priest River

Scheming power brokers…

Dear editor,

Make no mistake, right-wing power brokers are scheming to “sunset”/cut/eliminate Social Security and Medicare. “Oh but, there appeared to be consensus to the contrary during Biden’s State of the Union speech.” You can take that to the bank, I guess.

However, recent events make me doubt that conclusion. Need proof? You need to look no further than the Supreme Court’s decision that elim- inated 50 years of the protections “Roe v. Wade” provided. So don’t relax. Those power brokers are clever, determined and above all patient, as the court’s “Roe/Dobbs” decision proves.

Shannon May Sandpoint

Dear editor,

Another bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, regarding pornography in our libraries has again made front-page news. No matter that the wording has changed, the bottom line I question is why should library employees be held responsible for what minor children read? Where are the parents of these minors?

I can hardly wait for the next issue of front-page news citing what other Republicans have on their agenda. I’m sure Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, will be jumping on this bandwagon (or perhaps not, as he is too busy pushing for the right to carry guns at the Festival at Sandpoint), along with the rest of his radical self-imposed control over individuals’ rights — or lack thereof. Thank you!

Jo Reitan Sandpoint