Mississippi Today
What to know about gender-affirming care in Mississippi
What to know about gender-affirming care in Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for trans kids this session, sparking fear among LGBTQ+ Mississippians and their families and allies.
House Bill 11125, also known as the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures” (REAP) Act, would prevent Mississippi’s roughly 2,400 trans kids and their families from getting hormone therapy or puberty blockers in the state. Lawmakers, contradicting the recommendations of every major medical association in the U.S., have likened gender-affirming care to child abuse and say the bill will protect children.
Trans Mississippians and their allies have said the bill is part of a coordinated attack on their rights. The bill comes two years after lawmakers banned trans athletes from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
As the bill moves through the legislative process, Mississippi Today compiled answers to some commonly asked questions about HB 1125 and gender-affirming care.
What is gender-affirming care?
Gender-affirming care refers to a broad range of interventions, from medical treatment to psychological and social support, that aims to affirm an individual’s gender identity, especially when it is different from the one they were assigned at birth, according to the World Health Organization. It seeks to reduce gender dysphoria, the distress trans people can experience when their physical features do not match their gender identity. The Transgender Care Navigation Program at the University of California, San Francisco, says gender-affirming care can range from “coming out” to friends and family, using different pronouns and changing one’s hairstyle, clothing to going on puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgery.
Puberty blockers are a type of medication that prevents sex organs from producing estrogen or testosterone. They are reversible and have been used for decades for precocious puberty, the development of secondary sex characteristics at a young age, in cisgender kids. Hormone therapy – the prescription of estrogen or testosterone – typically starts at 16-years-old for trans kids.
For trans kids, who must have parental consent, the goal of gender-affirming care is often to give them time to determine if they want to go through puberty corresponding to the sex they were assigned at birth or if they want to transition, said Lee Pace, a nurse practitioner and co-owner of Spectrum: The Other Clinic, the only transgender medical clinic in Mississippi.
Gender-affirming care is recommended by every major medical association in the United States. It is also evidenced-based and, contrary to the title of HB 1125, not considered “experimental” by the medical community.
In a blog post on the American Medical Association’s website, the president, Jack Resneck, wrote that, “studies have consistently demonstrated that providing gender-affirming care that is both age-appropriate and evidence-based leads to improved mental health outcomes. Conversely, denying such care is linked to a greater incidence of anxiety, depression and self-harm.”
Nationally, trans youth attempt suicide at a rate more than four times their cisgender peers due to social stigma and discrimination. Research has repeatedly shown that gender-affirming care significantly boosts the chances that trans kids will live to see adulthood. A study published last year in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association found that over the course of a year, gender-affirming care was associated with 60% reduced odds of moderate to severe depression and 73% less odds of suicidal thoughts.
Are trans youth undergoing gender-confirmation surgery in Mississippi?
No. On the House floor, Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth, could not name a single instance of a trans kid undergoing gender-confirmation surgery in Mississippi.
There is no medical clinic in Mississippi that offers gender-confirmation surgery to trans kids, according to Pace and other advocates for the state’s trans community. In general, surgery is not recommended for trans kids by medical organizations that support other forms of gender-affirming care for youth.
No clinic in Mississippi provides what’s commonly called “bottom surgery” to trans people of any age, though adults can access chest surgery in the state.
A handful of trans kids in Mississippi are receiving gender-affirming care. At Spectrum, Pace estimated that in the last two years, he has seen 30 trans kids for care and less than half have had parental consent to go on puberty blockers. The number of trans kids across the country who are on puberty blockers is similarly small. According to an investigation in Reuters based on insurance claims, just 1,390 trans kids ages 6-17 in the United States were prescribed puberty blockers in 2021.
How would HB 1125 be enforced?
HB 1125 is enforced by a civil, not criminal, process in which anyone who “aids or abets” gender-affirming care for a trans child could be sued for monetary damages for up to 30 years. In addition, doctors who continue to provide gender-affirming care after the bill passes could lose their license.
The State Board of Medical Licensure, which would enforce the bill’s provision revoking providers’ licenses, didn’t respond to questions from Mississippi Today. The University of Mississippi Medical Center, which has provided gender-affirming care to trans kids at its LGBTQ-focused TEAM Clinic, said, “we have no comment for now.”
McKenna Raney-Gray, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi’s LGBTQ Justice Project, said on a call last month that the bill is designed to make it so doctors in Mississippi have no incentive to provide gender-affirming care.
How would this legislation affect access to gender-affirming care in Mississippi?
The bill will go into effect immediately. Spectrum is likely the one provider in the state offering gender-affirming care to trans kids, Pace said, and he will stop treating the handful of 16 and 17-year-old trans teenagers in his care the moment the bill passes. His wife and co-owner of the clinic, Stacie Pace, said they will likely post signs on the clinic’s front door saying they no longer accept trans children.
It is unclear if the bill will prevent doctors in Mississippi from referring families and trans kids to out-of-state providers.
Still, the small number of families seeking gender-affirming medical care involving puberty blockers or hormone treatment will have to go out of state if the bill passes, though some people worry this also would not be allowed under the bill’s “aids and abets” clause.
During a Senate Judiciary B committee hearing last month, Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, said he did not think the bill would prevent families from going out of state for care.
“We only control the law within the boundaries of the state of Mississippi,” he said. “Now if parents use it to go to New York or wherever they want to go – L.A. – and do this, that would be controlled by the laws in that state.”
Who supports HB 1125, and why?
The bill is authored by Rep. Gene Newman, R-Pearl. He has not responded to a request for comment from Mississippi Today. It is backed by a coalition of powerful Republican lawmakers in Mississippi, including Gov. Tate Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, and endorsed by conservative and religious organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom.
These lawmakers and groups have cast the measure as a way to protect children in Mississippi, sometimes likening gender-affirming care to child abuse. At a rally last month, Gunn said he did not think children in Mississippi should be allowed the choice to transition with puberty blockers or hormones.
“We have decided as a society that children are not always capable of making decisions based on age, lack of maturity and lack of understanding,” he said. “Is there any more consequential decision than changing one’s sex?”
Reeves echoed Gunn during his State of the State address.
“The fact is that we set age restrictions on driving a car and on getting a tattoo,” Reeves said. “We don’t let 11- year- olds enter an R-rated movie alone, yet some would have us believe that we should push permanent, body-altering surgeries on them at such a young age.”
What do trans Mississippians, their supportive families and providers of gender-affirming care think of the bill?
Trans Mississippians call the bill an attack on their rights. Jensen Luke Matar, director of the nonprofit Trans Program, said on a call last month that lawmakers are using trans Mississippians as political bait.
“It’s just chess,” said Matar, a trans man. “They’re playing chess, and they’re using the most vulnerable population as their pawns.”
Supportive parents are devastated by the measure and afraid of what will happen if their trans kids can no longer receive gender-affirming care, Pace said. Many parents are still trying to figure out how to tell their kids that Mississippi is considering this bill, according to parents who spoke with Mississippi Today on the condition of anonymity. Some are considering the possibility of moving away to states like California and Colorado that have laws protecting gender-affirming care.
Providers of gender-affirming care in Mississippi say the bill will contribute to increased mental illness among LGBTQ+ Mississippians and are worried it will lead to higher suicide rates if it passes.
“The number one thing, if this bill goes into effect? A lot of dead kids,” Stacie Pace told Mississippi Today. “This law goes into effect, it is, in my opinion, the direct cause of youth suicide.”
What forms of gender-affirming care for trans minors would still be permitted under HB 1125?
Raney-Gray of the ACLU said the bill will not ban social transitioning, such as using new pronouns or wearing different clothes, for trans youth in Mississippi.
It remains unclear how the bill could affect access to gender-affirming care that is provided through a counselor or if that would fall under the measure’s “aids and abets” clause. Counselors across the state who have worked with trans people told Mississippi Today that if they accept a trans child as a client, they would seek legal guidance.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday
Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.
“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”
The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.



“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”
The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.
“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”
NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.




This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says
Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed.
They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them.
Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother.
“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.”
Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023.
Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board.
The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition.
A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities.
Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board.
In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties.
The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more.
From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths.
“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said.
Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.
A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents.
Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed.
In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.
Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records.
Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson.
Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.
He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media.
Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary.
Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents.
At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.
“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
Court to rule on DeSoto County Senate districts with special elections looming
A federal three-judge panel will rule in coming days on how political power in northwest Mississippi will be allocated in the state Senate and whether any incumbents in the DeSoto County area might have to campaign against each other in November special elections.
The panel, comprised of all George W. Bush-appointed judges, ordered state officials last week to, again, craft a new Senate map for the area in the suburbs of Memphis. The panel has held that none of the state’s prior maps gave Black voters a realistic chance to elect candidates of their choice.
The latest map proposed by the all-Republican State Board of Election Commissioners tweaked only four Senate districts in northwest Mississippi and does not pit any incumbent senators against each other.
The state’s proposal would keep the Senate districts currently held by Sen. Michael McLendon, a Republican from Hernando and Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, in majority-white districts.
But it makes Sen. David Parker’s district a slightly majority-Black district. Parker, a white Republican from Olive Branch, would run in a district with a 50.1% black voting-age population, according to court documents.
The proposal also maintains the district held by Sen. Reginald Jackson, a Democrat from Marks, as a majority-Black district, although it reduces the Black voting age population from 61% to 53%.
Gov. Tate Reeves, Secretary of State Michael Watson, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch comprise the State Board of Election Commissioners. Reeves and Watson voted to approve the plan. But Watson, according to meeting documents, expressed a wish that the state had more time to consider different proposals.
Fitch did not attend the meeting, but Deputy Attorney General Whitney Lipscomb attended in her place. Lipscomb voted against the map, although it is unclear why. Fitch’s office declined to comment on why she voted against the map because it involves pending litigation.
The reason for redrawing the districts is that the state chapter of the NAACP and Black voters in the state sued Mississippi officials for drawing legislative districts in a way that dilutes Black voting power.
The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, are likely to object to the state’s newest proposal, and they have until April 29 to file an objection with the court
The plaintiffs have put forward two alternative proposals for the area in the event the judges rule against the state’s plans.
The first option would place McLendon and Blackwell in the same district, and the other would place McLendon and Jackson in the same district.
It is unclear when the panel of judges will issue a ruling on the state’s plan, but they will not issue a ruling until the plaintiffs file their remaining court documents next week.
While the November election is roughly six months away, changing legislative districts across counties and precincts is technical work, and local election officials need time to prepare for the races.
The judges have not yet ruled on the full elections calendar, but U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick said at a hearing earlier this month that the panel was committed have the elections in November.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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