Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón – Photo: Official Portrait
Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican and member of the New Progressive Party, has signed what is now the strictest law in the United States prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 21, with steep penalties for violations.
The law imposes a $50,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison for each violation by health care professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors and young adults. Offenders would also lose their medical licenses and permits and would be permanently barred from practicing medicine in Puerto Rico, reports The Hill.
“Minors, having not yet reached the necessary emotional, cognitive, and physical maturity, are particularly vulnerable to making decisions that can have irreversible consequences,” the law, set to go into effect in October, reads. “Therefore, it is the State’s duty to ensure their comprehensive well-being.”
Under Puerto Rican law, the age of majority — or legal adulthood — begins at 21. That makes the new ban on gender-affirming care the strictest in the United States.
Including Puerto Rico, 26 U.S. states have enacted bans on gender-affirming care, prohibiting doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or performing surgical interventions, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Two additional states — New Hampshire and Arizona — ban only surgical procedures for minors.
LGBTQ organizations have vowed to sue, arguing the law violates Puerto Rico’s constitution, which explicitly guarantees a right to privacy.
Pedro Julio Serrano, president of Puerto Rico’s LGBTQ+ Federation, criticized González-Colón for signing the law, saying her actions had cemented her reputation as “the most anti-equity governor in history.”
Serrano told transgender journalist Erin Reed that the law was intentionally “vague,” and warned it could be weaponized against parents of transgender minors who affirm their children’s gender identity.
Serrano also said the law was pushed through the legislature in a series of non-public hearings. He alleged that Health Secretary Víctor Ramos Otereo, a González-Colón appointee, had urged the governor to include amendments allowing puberty blockers and a “grandfather clause” for minors already receiving gender-affirming treatments.
“[Ramos] vehemently told [González-Colón] to include that language in the bill or not sign the bill,” Serrano told Reed. “Then she signed the bill. So she ignored her own health secretary.”
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing provisions in a pair of anti-LGBTQ executive orders issued earlier this year that threatened to strip congressionally approved funding from LGBTQ service providers and health centers.
The provisions specifically target LGBTQ and HIV prevention organizations that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or that promote so-called "gender ideology" by recognizing transgender identity as valid.
The Missoula City Council has drawn the ire of Republicans -- including Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte -- by sidestepping a state ban on Pride flags through a resolution declaring the LGBTQ Pride flag as an official city flag.
On June 2, the council voted 9-2 in favor of the resolution. According to city attorney Ryan Sudbury, speaking to Missoula-based NBC affiliate KECI, the city previously had no official flag.
"Currently, there is only one official flag for the City of Missoula, and that's the Pride flag adopted last night. There was no prior official flag," Sudbury told the news station.
A fundamentalist church in Indianapolis is defending a June 29 sermon in which a lay preacher urged congregants to pray for LGBTQ people to die and suggested they kill themselves.
The remarks, delivered by Stephen Falco during a “Men’s Preaching Night” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church, included multiple homophobic slurs, biblical references, and rants against Pride Month, LGBTQ rights, and what he called “disgusting” and “evil” behavior, according to TheIndianapolis Star.
"Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate f****ts? Because they attack children," Falco ranted in the sermon, video of which was posted to Sure Foundation Baptist Church's YouTube channel. "They're coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools, in public places, and they're proud about it!
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