State OKs Bans on Transgender Treatments for Minors, TikTok in Bid to Keep Kids Safe

By Virginia Allen Published on May 1, 2023

Montana recently passed a bill banning transgender treatments on minors.

“It’s very important that we protect our children, especially physically, from these treatments that are permanent,” Montana state Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe says.

“There’s not been a lot of studies done on the long-term effects of these [treatments],” the Republican lawmaker said, adding “but we also see a lot of detransitioners, or people who have regretted it because they were not given the adequate help that they needed and the treatment that they needed. They were just told to have surgery.”

The Montana legislation, banning treatments such as cross-sex hormones and gender-reassignment surgeries, passed late last month, was signed into law Friday. The bill gained national attention after it became the source of conflict between a transgender Montana state representative and lawmakers who backed the bill.

State Rep. Zooey Zephyr — a Democrat who is a man, but “identifies” as a woman — told his colleagues there would be “blood on your hands” if they voted in support of the transgender treatment ban. The remarks got Zephyr banned from the Montana House floor.

Montana state Rep. Braxton Mitchell, a Republican, told Fox News Digital, “Not only has my colleague violated decorum, but has broken the trust given by the other 99 representatives.”

In the interest of protecting children, the Montana House also recently passed a bill that requires schools to notify parents of human sexuality instruction in the classroom.

Now, parents are notified of human sexuality instruction 10 days to 48 hours in advance, giving them the opportunity to opt their child out of the instruction and to ask for detailed information on what is being taught, Seekins-Crowe told The Daily Signal.

In addition to passing legislation aimed at protecting kids from transgender treatments and explicit sexual information, Montana also recently became the first state to pass a bill banning the popular video app TikTok.

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“I am glad that I voted for that legislation, especially because of how dangerous TikTok is, not just as a platform, but also as a national security issue,” Seekins-Crowe says.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing and is subject to Chinese law requiring companies to make data available to the government. American citizens and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns over the ability of the Chinese government to collect and store data on Americans through TikTok.

Seekins-Crowe says she is looking forward to Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signing the TikTok ban into law “very soon.”

Seekins-Crowe joins The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss her rocky entry into politics, and how her state is advancing policies that place children and families first.

Listen to the podcast below:

 

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