Clinics providing gender-transitioning services will also have to provide de-transitioning services, according to a bill passed by the state Senate Monday.
The legislation referred to as the “trans data surveillance bill” passed the Senate with 24 ayes and seven nays.
The bill originally required physicians to report the number of transitioning and de-transitioning services to the Tennessee Department of Health on a public-facing site. The data would have included the county where the service was offered, however Sen. Bren Taylor (R-Memphis) said protesters raised concerns about HIPAA violations and removed that portion of the bill.
Now, the “public-facing reporting” would not include the county from which a patient transitions or de-transitions. Taylor said no patient-identifying information would be revealed.
Taylor also said the bill was to help patients who want to de-transition after seeking gender-affirming care.
“There are people who realize that their gender transitions didn’t answer their gender dysphoria or their mental health issues,” Sen. Brent Taylor (R- Memphis), the bill’s sponsor said. “Patients who undergo sex-change surgeries become patients for life — even if they detransition back to their birth gender.”
Taylor said healthcare services only “prioritize” transition services, and do not help people de-transition. Transitioning, Taylor said, is made easier through health insurance. His bill requires health insurance companies to cover both services.
The legislation would also mandate psychotherapy and other treatments to be allowed as ways to treat gender dysphoria as Taylor said they’re considered “gay conversion therapy.”
Though heavily amended to address concerns, Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) voiced her opposition and said the amendments didn’t fully rectify the bill’s issues. Akbari said it was also unfair for the state to govern the banning of treatment that can be deemed harmful.
“There is ample evidence on the dangers of conversion therapy,” Akbari said. “There are dangers in forcing young people to go into these programs. You are dealing with people who are very vulnerable in their life, and we certainly don’t want to push them in a way where they might end up taking their own life.”
Akbari reminded the Senate that transition services are considered “life-affirming care” and are necessary.
The Tennessee Equality Project has advocated against the bill throughout the legislative session and released the following statement:
“The Senate’s amendment to SB676 is a nod to the bill’s data privacy hazards we have highlighted since 2024, but the amended bill still demonstrates a lack of recognition and care about the real people for whom it creates real risks. It now goes back to the House for consideration.
If the House and Senate agree on some version of the bill, we call on Governor Bill Lee to veto this dangerous legislation, which would signal his acknowledgement of what both the House and Senate have refused to see. We also urge legal organizations serving our community to make this bill a priority and prepare a robust court challenge if it becomes law. We stand ready to help.
“Few of the problems that have plagued this bill since this measure’s first iteration three years ago have been addressed or remedied. Regardless of where the information resides, creating a distinct catalog of information recording the specific health needs of transgender and gender-expansive patients is problematic on its face.
Even a cursory glance at the details this bill would require providers and insurers to list reveals how identification remains a real danger, especially for individuals who live in rural areas, and especially given how our community continues to be targeted by legislation like this. This past week alone, a half-dozen bills were calendared that would have negative consequences for trans- and gender-diverse Tennesseans.
“The bill’s precipitating reason (supposedly to protect the ability of specific patients to continue to receive care to help them feel healthy and at home in their own bodies) is a red herring. If that was a genuine concern, we would be having a conversation about doing so for all Tennesseans, but we’re not. Instead, legislators are going after an easy play for culture war points in their upcoming elections.
Their play, though, exposes actual people to real-world risks, and begs the question of why the state would take on such liability while further endangering our community’s lives.”