Why are lawmakers trying to ban gender-affirming care for trans kids? Mississippi Today’s Molly Minta talks with Jensen Luke Matar, the director of the nonprofit TRANS Program, about gender-affirming care, what it is and what it is not, and why powerful lawmakers are trying to ban it for the small number of trans kids in Mississippi. While lawmakers say they’re trying to protect kids, Matar says this effort will lead to higher rates of suicide and poor mental health.

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Molly Minta covers higher education for Mississippi Today in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on strengthening higher education coverage in local communities.

Originally from Melbourne Beach, Florida, Molly reported on public housing and prosecutors in her home state and worked as a fact-checker at The Nation before joining Mississippi Today in 2021.

Molly's work at Mississippi Today has been honored by The Green Eyeshades and the Mississippi Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest. She is a two-time finalist for the Education Writers Association National Awards for Education Reporting in the beat and feature reporting categories, including for her story on Mississippi's only class on critical race theory.