CLAIM: Map shows the states where it’s possible for a 3-year-old child to receive gender-affirming surgery.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The map shows which states have passed or are considering anti-transgender laws. Children as young as 3 are not qualified to undergo operations to change their gender, medical experts say. Nationally-recognized medical guidelines recommend patients be at least 15 years old to receive the surgeries, and only then in special circumstances.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a map of the U.S. that purports to show which states are the hardest and which are the easiest to obtain sex change surgery for children as young as 3.
The map shows blue-colored states located mostly along the coasts and the Great Lakes and red-colored states that are mostly in the Midwest and South.
“The dark red states are where it’s hardest to get your 3 year old a sex change operation,” the text above the map claims.
“If you’re thinking about moving this could be helpful,” wrote an Instagram user who shared the map in a post that’s been liked nearly 280,000 times as of Friday. “Get away from the blue.”
But the map is being misrepresented online: it categorizes states according to the type of transgender laws or bills that have been enacted or are under consideration.
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