Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Lawmakers raise the alarm as state legislatures introduce more than 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills since January
Letter Text (PDF)
Washington (March 31, 2023) – On International Transgender Day of Visibility, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, and his colleagues Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D- Minn.), Mazie Hirono (D- Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to take additional action to help transgender people access gender-affirming health care, protect them against violence and discrimination, and support health care providers facing threats of violence and limits on their ability to provide care.
The transgender community is experiencing escalating attacks that aim to prohibit access to medically necessary care and allow for discrimination against transgender and nonbinary people. Since January alone, there have been more than 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced, many of which include bans on gender-affirming care. With the rapidly increasing number of anti-LGBTQ+ state bills, far-right extremists have been emboldened to physically attack members of the transgender community. At least 38 transgender people were killed in the United States in 2022. Many of the attacks targeted transgender women of color.
“International Transgender Day of Visibility is a celebration of transgender people across the globe,” the senators wrote to the President. “It is meant to give transgender communities hope and support in the face of continued violence against them and their health care providers, as well as a growing movement to pass laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to guarantee that transgender people are supported and live free from violence and discrimination. We write to urge your Administration to build on the steps it has already taken to achieve this important goal, and champion a robust, whole-of-government response to violence and discrimination against transgender people; ensure access to gender-affirming care; and engage in a public campaign to educate the transgender community about their legal rights and available support.”
In the letter, the senators continued, “We are disappointed that the campaign of hate and discrimination against transgender people and their communities has resulted in violence and discriminatory legislation. And while we are encouraged by the work that your Administration has done, this problem calls for more action across the federal government. On this Transgender Day of Visibility, we are committed to fighting for this community’s freedom to survive and thrive. We ask for your continued support.”
As a result of state legislation, and rising extremism and violence against the transgender community, health care providers have cancelled in-person services and removed online information on how to access gender-affirming care. The barriers to gender-affirming care harms the mental and physical health of transgender and nonbinary people. In addition, transgender people and their families have been forced to travel out-of-state for gender-affirming care due to a lack of access or fear of punishment.
In the letter, lawmakers call on President Biden and his administration to immediately:
- Ensure access to gender-affirming care, including by considering Medicaid coverage for patients traveling or moving to obtain gender-affirming care, just as the Administration did for patients seeking reproductive health care;
- Provide resources and assistance to health care providers and facilities caring for transgender people through coordinated activity between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House Gender Policy Council to protect providers facing threats of violence because of their provision of gender-affirming care; and
- Launch outreach and public education efforts and convene volunteer lawyers to secure legal protections for transgender people and health care providers lawfully seeking or offering gender-affirming care.
Yesterday, Senator Markey and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced their Trans Bill of Rights, a landmark resolution to recognize the federal government’s duty in protecting and codifying the rights of transgender and nonbinary people, as well as to ensure trans people have access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security. Last September, Senator Markey led a letter to DOJ, HHS, and the Drug Enforcement Administration urging the Biden administration to lift barriers to testosterone and expand access to gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender people, including transgender men and transmasculine nonbinary people. In June 2022, Senator Markey secured commitments from online companies Facebook, PayPal, Discover, Visa, and Instacart to his March inquiry into their name-change policies that contributed to harmful deadnaming practices of referring to transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming users’ birth or legal name that they no longer use. In March 2021, Senator Markey and Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) reintroduced the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act to prohibit using “gay panic” and “trans panic” defense in federal court.
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