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Tennessee enacted HB1665, barring healthcare providers from asking minor patients about gender identity

On April 13, 2026, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed HB1665 (companion SB1664), enacted as Public Chapter 748, which prohibits healthcare providers from knowingly or willfully asking a minor gender-identity-related questions and bars health insurers, managed-care organizations, and reimbursement entities from requiring or requesting that providers ask such questions. The House passed the bill 72-21 on March 16, 2026, and the Senate 27-6 on March 19; the law takes effect October 1, 2026. Advocates and public-health groups have described it as an "anti-trans medical censorship" measure that discourages clinicians from discussing gender identity with minor patients.

Jurisdiction
Tennessee
Location
Nashville, Tennessee

Abuses documented

Actors

On April 13, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB1665 and its Senate companion SB1664, enacted as Public Chapter 748, amending several titles of the Tennessee Code "relative to the protection of minors in healthcare settings." The law prohibits a healthcare provider from knowingly or willfully asking a minor gender-identity-related questions, and it bars health insurance issuers, managed-care organizations, and entities that reimburse for healthcare services from requiring or requesting that a provider or facility ask such questions.

Sponsored in the House by Rep. Aron Maberry and in the Senate by Sen. Paul Rose, the bill passed the House 72-21 on March 16, 2026, and the Senate 27-6 on March 19, 2026. It takes effect October 1, 2026. Advocacy organizations and public-health commentators characterized the measure as an "anti-trans medical censorship" or "don't say trans" law, warning that it discourages clinicians from discussing gender identity with minor patients and could effectively out transgender youth or leave their health needs unaddressed.

Why we recorded this

Equal protection and the freedom of patients and doctors to speak candidly are undermined when the state dictates what a physician may ask about a young patient's identity. Tennessee's HB1665 forbids healthcare providers from asking minors gender-identity-related questions and blocks insurers from requesting that they do so, singling out transgender and gender-questioning youth by cutting off the clinical conversations through which their needs are identified. This archive records when a government restricts the practice of medicine to disadvantage a marginalized group under the stated aim of protecting minors.

Sources

  1. Tennessee HB1665 | 2025-2026 | 114th General Assembly — LegiScan primary accessed July 10, 2026
  2. Bill Information — Tennessee General Assembly (HB1665) — Tennessee General Assembly primary accessed July 10, 2026
  3. Report: State's 'Anti-Trans Medical Censorship Law' a Threat to Public Health — Memphis Flyer investigative accessed July 10, 2026

See also