Morrisey ceremoniously signs gender affirming care bill, DEI ban

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Wednesday celebrated signing legislation that ends a narrow exception to the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors as well as  another bill ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the state. 

Morrisey held the ceremonial bill signings for Senate Bill 299 and SB 474 at the Summers County Memorial Building in Hinton on Wednesday morning. 

In 2023, state lawmakers passed a strict ban on gender-affirming care for minors, including a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for minors. That law allowed children diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria to receive medical therapy, including hormonal treatment, if they are considered at risk for self-harm or suicide. 

SB 299 ends that exception, banning hormone treatment for children diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria. 

“In 2023 the state passed laws banning these practices for minors but it left open a loophole, something you could drive a truck through,” Morrisey said. “And that was being used by doctors to continue mutilating our kids. So today I will also be ceremoniously signing Senate bill 299 to close that loophole, and officially end the practice of child mutilation in the state of West Virginia.”

Gender-affirming surgeries are not being and have not been practiced on children in West Virginia, according to multiple medical experts and service providers who have testified at the Legislature over the last few years. 

Medical treatments for children with gender dysphoria can include prescribing certain hormones or hormone blockers, which delay the onset of puberty temporarily to stop the development of permanent physical characteristics that don’t match the child’s gender identity. Studies show these medical interventions are highly successful in preventing long term and serious psychological issues — including depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, which are already more common in transgender youth and adults than their cisgender peers.

According to a 2024 survey by the LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit The Trevor Project, 51% of trans and non-binary children in West Virginia considered suicide in the previous year while 16% of them attempted suicide. 

The bill passed with an 86-to-12 vote in the House of Delegates and a 32-to-2 vote in the Senate.

Proponents of the bill argued minors shouldn’t be allowed to make a potentially irreversible decision. As minors, a patient’s parents or guardians would have had to consent to any medical treatments.

The bill was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, who called gender affirming care “life-saving.”

Roughly 100 youth in the state are currently receiving gender-affirming care, and the measure will halt their medical care in August. The bill has exceptions to permit individuals with sex development issues or someone who has already undergone gender-affirming care surgery to continue receiving hormonal treatment.

Nationwide, states that have implemented bans on gender-affirming care for children have seen a significant increase in suicide attempts by transgender and gender nonconforming teenagers in the years following those bans taking effect. 

Doctors warned West Virginia lawmakers during the session that if SB 299 were to become law, they will likely see an increase in anxiety, depression and suicide among the state’s trans and non-binary children.

Ending DEI in West Virginia

SB 474, ending DEI initiatives, was a priority for Morrisey. The bill bans the offering of specific services or opportunities to people based on their race, color, ethnicity, country of origin and, in some instances, sex. It applies to DEI policies and initiatives in state and local governments and schools, including institutions of higher education.

Morrisey on Wednesday called DEI programs a “huge problem” and said they were “flourishing” in the state.

“We’ve had to clean up that mess, and I’m proud to do that, but this really matters and here’s why it matters: I want everyone to understand that every person, every person should be treated with dignity and respect,” Morrisey said. “We should view people equally both under the eyes of God and the rule of law. That’s what this is about …. Don’t let anyone try to convince you that this is something other than that.”

Democrats in the Senate have raised legal concerns about the legislation and “a series of procedural irregularities” when Republicans passed the legislation in the final minutes of the legislative session. The ACLU-WV has threatened to sue if the bill became law.