Written by Nikitha Balaji, AMSA LGBT+ Health Coordinator for Gender & Sexuality Action Committee and incoming M1
Current Extremist Efforts to Curtail Access to Gender-Affirming Care for Youth
On Friday, February 10th, the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine confirmed a discriminatory and politically motivated rule which will prohibit physicians in Florida from providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. This statewide rule is one of the most extreme anti-transgender healthcare proposals in the United States. It will ultimately ban this lifesaving, evidence-based, and medically necessary healthcare for transgender youth in Florida.
Every major medical association in the United States supports the provision of gender-affirming care. Yet, across the nation, legislation is targeting the most fundamental rights and freedoms of transgender youth – including their ability to access critically important healthcare, exercise their bodily autonomy, and lead happy and healthy lives. According to data compiled by the ACLU, more than 80 bills seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming care have been introduced in more than half the states around the country as of February 9th, 2023. According to a report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law in March 2022, more than one-third of transgender youth between the ages of 13 – 17 in the United States were at risk of losing access to gender-affirming care due to legislation being considered at that time.
Legislative attacks on gender-affirming care for transgender youth are one part of a larger coordinated attack by political extremists and national anti-LGBT+ organizations seeking to politicize the existence and well-being of transgender Americans. Only two months into 2023, the Human Rights Council has already identified 150 anti-transgender bills across the country – the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year.
We invite you to read our letter sent to the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, which discusses the importance of gender-affirming care for the health of transgender youth and details the cruel repercussions of curtailing access to this vital form of healthcare.
Call to Action:
Sign up here if you are interested in gathering together with the Gender and Sexuality Action Committee to strategize next steps. Working in solidarity with one another, we can begin combatting current discriminatory efforts to curtail access to gender-affirming care for youth.
In addition, Letters to The Editor (LTE) can be a powerful and effective advocacy tool. We have developed a toolkit here for those interested.
