These kids are 15, 16, 17, and their state is saying that they're wrong.

Their existence is wrong.

And I don't know what that does to the psyche of a 16-year-old to have your state basically say that who you are and what you're doing is illegal.

Hey there with pod listeners. I was on vacation last week, which is awesome. I got to spend a great

week with my family. And so this week, we're going to share a republish of an episode that we did back in

2021 with Dr. Izzy Loll. I got to say, of all the interviews we've done, this one is stuck with me

almost as much as any. And I think that's because I've

been thinking about it a lot in light of recent news and controversies and reporting in various

publications. You've probably seen the headlines about this just tidal wave of anti-trans health

care legislation that's been passed in many states recently, states like Utah and South

Dakota, and the number of proposed bills aimed at limiting gender affirming care has continued

to increase. So Dr. Lowell is a health care provider in the South where she works with trans youth,

and we reached back out to Dr. Lottle, see how things have been with her Georgia-based practice

since we last spoke in May of 2021.

Ultimately, the proposed Alabama bill that we talk about in the episode ended up passing.

It is not in effect right now because federal courts have blocked its enforcement pending the outcome of a bunch of lawsuits.

There's an anti-trans health care bill that would ban gender or furthering care for anyone in Mississippi younger than 18, and that's expected as well to be signed. We'll see what the status of that is. That will probably get tied up in federal courts as well. Dr. Lowell, who practices across state lines, pointed out in our check-in that obviously it's been a really rough year. The last few months have been especially challenging for the work she does. She added that a lot of

the progress that was made has been undone and that people, she says, are going to lose their

lives over the latest wave of anti-trans legislation. She told us her practice continues to see

a rise in emails and calls from panic parents and teens. And since we last checked in, her queer

med staff has grown.

They now have six providers.

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