Missouri has been the site of some of the most vicious battles over transgender rights in recent years. In 2022, a trans healthcare ban and trans sports ban came just short of passing after time ran out over a fight about redistricting. In those debates, transgender people were openly compared to “an infection” by sitting legislators. This year, the pace of anti-trans bills has increased, with sometimes as many as 8 anti-trans bills being heard in a single day. Now, one of the gender affirming care bans for trans youth that passed out of committee was amended with a new provision: the forced medical detransition of incarcerated transgender people.

The new amendment contained carveouts to HB419, which bans gender affirming care for transgender youth. Legislators removed language that involved continuing hormones if withdrawing them meant a threat to the life of the child - explicitly voting through an amendment that removed protections for the life of the kid. Republicans also added a new line that has never been before seen in anti-trans legislation: that any correctional facility would no longer provide gender affirming care to those incarcerated.

The withdrawal of gender affirming care for incarcerated people is especially alarming, considering that Missouri is also considering several bills that target drag artists and transgender performers. In the hearing over those bills, Representative Mazzie Boyd (R), one of the anti-drag bill sponsors, stated that she knew it targeted transgender people and any gender nonconforming person performing regardless of explicit sexualization and seemed to agree with that end goal. When asked later if she considered drag in and of itself sexually explicit, she stated yes. It is conceivable that, should both bills pass, Missouri could legalize arresting transgender people for doing anything considered “performance” and forcing their medical detransition.