The Biden administration is dedicating approximately $700,000 to a sexual health program aimed at pregnancy prevention for transgender boys.
The Department of Health and Human Services has approved a grant to the Center for Innovative Public Health Research in California, which will spearhead a program focused on sex education and condom usage for trans boys.
The grant summary explains that trans boys are “at risk for negative sexual health outcomes yet are effectively excluded from sexual health programs because gender-diverse youth do not experience the cisgender, heteronormative teen sexual education messaging available to them as salient or applicable.”
It also said trans youth who were assigned female at birth “may be less likely to use condoms when having sex with people who have penises and are at least as likely as cisgender girls to be pregnant.” The organization plans to try out a texting strategy originally designed for cisgender teenage girls who are sexual minorities. It will also hold focus groups to learn more about the sex lives of trans boys.
The Biden administration has been investing in other trans health programs as well. In 2022, it granted $1 million to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to study thrombosis risks in trans youth undergoing hormone therapy, according toShore News Network.
Despite the relatively small grant allocated for the sexual health program, the right is outraged that any funds would be appropriated to help trans youth. Conservative media blasted the program as “woke” and “radical” and mocked the fact that it is indeed possible for boys to get pregnant.
President Biden has been the most vocal president in history in support of trans rights. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interestsupporting a trans inmate seeking gender-affirming care. The administration has also participated in multiple lawsuits against states seeking to ban gender-affirming care.
Lawmakers in South Carolina, USA, have approved a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.
On 18 January, the Republican-dominated House debated and voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the bill, as per AP News. The bill prevents health professionals from performing gender-affirming surgery, prescribing puberty blockers and overseeing hormone therapy for patients under 18 years old.
The bill also prevents those under the age of 26 – eight years past the age of majority in the Southern US state – from using Medicaid, the nation’s public health insurance program for those from a low-income background, to cover the cost of gender-affirming treatment.
Furthermore, the bill forces teachers and school employees to out transgender and non-binary children to their legal guardians in a potentially unsafe home environment, as it’s illegal for them to withhold such knowledge.
The South Carolina proposal on the ban will soon head to the state Senate, where the chair of the Medical Affairs Committee has said ‘it will have his attention’, according to the outlet.
Last week, lawmakers heard from witnesses and experts on the bill – dubbed House Bill 4624 – including medical experts, who warned that the deeply restrictive legislation could have a detrimental impact on children in the state.
Among those testifying against the bill on medical grounds was paediatrician Dr Deborah Greenhouse, who informed the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs that, contrary to what they might believe, trans minors in South Carolina do not undergo gender-affirming surgeries. Rather, trans youth who do qualify for gender-affirming care with “fully-involved” parents’ consent, are more likely to have access to hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers, which can be lifesaving treatments.
In support of this point were parents Dave and Rebecca Bell, who spoke on behalf of their 15-year-old transgender daughter.
The couple revealed that it had taken years for their daughter to be approved for gender-affirming care, with seven visits to an endocrinologist over three years. But, when their child was finally approved for treatment with puberty blockers, they noted a significant difference in her mental health.
Her access to such treatment even meant she was able to stop taking mental health medications. “She did take antidepressants, but in fact, after starting HRT she was able to stop taking them,” they shared.
Elsewhere in the committee hearing, Dr Elizabeth Mack, who is the president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pointed out that gender-affirming care is only provided to trans minors, following meticulous protocols after thorough consultation with doctors and parents.
Dr Mack also pointed out that gender-affirming care for minors is approved and endorsed by every mainstream medical organisation as a safe practice if administered correctly.
Some people shared their testimony anonymously; like one 17-year-old transgender child, who feared what might happen to them if the bill was passed.
“I cannot give you my name because I am one of the kids at risk of physical harm if my family knows I am trans,” their letter read. “South Carolina’s trans kids are all watching you today. We are afraid.”
Two of the country’s largest transgender rights organizations are merging, telling NBC News that joining forces will allow them to better combat years of conservative efforts to roll back trans rights.
The National Center for Transgender Equality, or NCTE, a group that focuses primarily on federal policy reform, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, or TLDEF, which works to advance trans rights through litigation, will merge by this summer to become Advocates for Trans Equality, or A4TE.
“We’ll be able to operate with double the influence, double the power,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, the executive director of NCTE, who will assume the same position at Advocates for Trans Equality. “At a time when states are considering a record number of anti-transgender bills, trans voices are needed now more than ever, and we have to be operating at a different scale.”
The merger comes amid what many advocates have described as a crisis for LGBTQ people, but especially transgender people. Conservative lawmakers introduced more than 500 bills targeting LGBTQ people last year, shattering the previous year’s record of 315. The majority of that legislation targeted trans minors, either by seeking to restrict their ability to play on school sports teams or limit their access to transition-related medical care.
Twenty-three states have passed laws barring trans students from playing school sports on teams consistent with their gender identities, as opposed to their sexes assigned at birth, and the same number have restricted or banned trans minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Andrea Hong Marra, TLDEF’s executive director, who will become the CEO of Advocates for Trans Equality, said TLDEF has grown significantly since she joined in 2018 — from a staff of four to 27 and a budget of about $830,000 to $4.5 million — and has secured a number of significant legal wins for trans people. But, she said, one thought still keeps her up at night: “It’s not enough.”
Then came the wake-up call, Marra said. In February 2022, Texas’ Department of Family and Protective Services began investigating parents who were suspected of having provided their minor children with transition-related care — the first time state officials had ordered such investigations. She said she took Amtrak down from New York City to meet with Heng-Lehtinen at his home in Washington, D.C.
Heng-Lehtinen said they decided “we need something cataclysmic, and that’s how we came up with this idea of merging” the organizations, both founded in 2003.
The merger, Marra said, is not about business. Both organizations’ revenues have grown over the last few years, according to public documents. And all staffers at NCTE and TLDEF will keep their jobs through the merger, Marra and Heng-Lehtinen said.
“This is a values decision,” Marra said. “This is about strengthening our movement and giving trans activists a real opportunity to lead and drive progress towards equality and freedom.”
Heng-Lehtinen and Marra agreed that national nonprofit groups like theirs need to be doing more for trans people and that merging will allow them to do that.
Heng-Lehtinen said NCTE and other groups have secured major wins for trans people in recent years, which, in turn, led to increased conservative backlash. For example, the center worked for years to make the Transportation Security Administration’s screening process more gender-neutral to avoid invasive and humiliating searches that trans people have often faced and criticized. The State Department also began offering a gender-neutral X marker on passports in 2021, and nearly half of states have passed laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations and housing. Public support for same-sex marriage has also remained high, at 71%.
“We have, little by little, seen the public understand more accurately what it means to be transgender and start to see us as full human beings,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “So the opposition really took note of this and tried to assess how do they roll back that tide, and that’s when they decided to go after trans kids, because they are the least understood out of the whole LGBTQ spectrum. And by attacking trans kids and exploiting the public’s lack of familiarity, they can make inroads to erode public support and LGBT rights writ large.”
Heng-Lehtinen said that when he took over, he wanted to address the concerns, which took time and affected the organization’s capacity. He said he worked to help change 100 of the policies in the organization’s employee handbook and overhauled how it approaches transparency and management. NCTE also worked to build close relationships with grassroots trans rights groups in states that face an onslaught of legislation targeting trans people.
He said the organization will also release more information about the results of its U.S. Transgender Survey soon. In 2016, the organization released its first U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest survey of trans people, which has been used by Congress and the Supreme Court. The group intended to release the second version of the survey in 2020, but the release was delayed by the internal strife and then the coronavirus pandemic. The survey was also delayed, Heng-Lehtinen said, because it received so many responses — more than triple the roughly 28,000 it received in 2015.
Bringing the organizations together, Marra said, will allow Advocates for Trans Equality and the movement for trans rights in general to better weather the kinds of storms trans people are facing.
“I think that this merger is going to create greater hope for not just the activists that give 125% each and every day, but also the kiddos and their parents at home in their communities across the country that are looking for the national voice for trans rights,” Marra said.
On Wednesday, the unions for the two nonprofits — NCTE United and the Union of Legal Workers for Trans Liberation — shared a joint statement on Instagram saying they are “excited to join forces” but noted that neither union was “involved in any planning of this merger.”The statement said management staffers were offered salary increases and bonuses if they chose to stay or three months severance pay if they chose to leave but “management has yet to propose any such benefits for the union.”
The unions added that they are concerned the combined organization “may intend to continue the practice exhibited by TLDEF and NCTE management of prioritizing management and executive level hires while ignoring staff needs for programmatic union positions.”
In response to the statement from their unions, NCTE and TLDEF said in a joint email statement that they have started working with the unions now that their intent to merge is public.
“We want bargaining to work as it should, and are committed to working with the unions as employees have a crucial role in shaping the new organization, Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), and fostering a workplace that is fair and just,” the email said, in part.
Republicans in West Virginia have upped the hostility among those on the right toward transgender people. There, the LGBTQ+ community is currently grappling with significant legislative challenges that have the potential to impact the rights and lives of transgender individuals drastically.
Multiple draconian bills were introduced in the state’s legislature this week, with advocates drawing attention to their severe implications. One forces mental health professionals to “cure” transgender people from their gender identity, and another categorizes transgender people as “obscene material,” essentially making transgender individuals’ existence in many public spaces illegal, independent journalist Erin Reed, who specializes in transgender-related legal coverage, reports. Yet another criminalizes their presence near schools.
“Trans people know they are — there is nothing to ‘cure.’ The truth is, trans people of all ages are living happy, complete, and joyful lives — this contradicts the false narrative created around our community by extremist politicians,” West Virginia activist Ash Orr told Reed. “This piece of legislation attacks our most basic values of privacy and control over our own bodies, and is based on misleading or even outright false ideas.”
Orr added: “This is a blatant attempt to criminalize and erase the trans community of West Virginia.”
Senate Bill 194 is particularly alarming. This proposed legislation seeks to impose a total ban on gender-affirming care for transgender individuals up to the age of 21. It also mandates that therapists and social workers in the state attempt to “cure” transgender identity. This bill extends the reach of a previous ban on gender-affirming care for those under 18, passed in 2023, and categorizes being transgender as a “sexual deviation.” Additionally, it broadens the definition of minors to include individuals up to age 21.
Conversion therapy, the discredited practice of attempting to change somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has been rejected by scientists and declared harmful and dangerous. Also, it should be noted that science does not support the notion that being LGBTQ+ can be reversed. Just as gay, bisexual, and lesbian people can’t be “cured” of homosexuality, transgender people cannot be “cured” of being trans — and do not need to be.
The bill not only targets medical professionals involved in providing gender-affirming care but also extends to mental health care professionals and counselors. Under the provisions of this bill, any form of medical or therapeutic intervention aimed at facilitating gender transition for individuals under 21 years of age would be deemed unlawful.
The bill mandates severe penalties for practitioners violating these regulations, including the revocation of licensure and substantial civil penalties. Furthermore, Senate Bill 194 aims to prevent any state funds from being utilized, directly or indirectly, for gender transition treatment. The bill also includes whistleblower protection clauses, ensuring that individuals who report violations are safeguarded against discrimination.
Senate Bill 195 presents another troubling development. As reported by Reed, this bill classifies transgender individuals as “obscene” and proposes to bar “transgender exposure, performances, or display” to minors. This could effectively criminalize the public presence of transgender individuals, as avoiding being perceived as transgender by a minor would be nearly impossible.
The bill’s broad scope extends to adjusting the definitions and penalties within the existing legal framework, with particular emphasis on expanding the definition of indecent exposure to include transgender representations. Notably, the bill contains language considered a slur against transgender people.
Senate Bill 197 further exacerbates the hostile legislative environment for transgender individuals in West Virginia. This bill, which aims to prohibit “obscene matter” from being within 2,500 feet of a school, effectively criminalizes the presence of transgender people near schools or in front of minors, classifying it as indecent exposure. Coupled with Senate Bills 194 and 195, the proposed legislation forms a triad of measures that collectively threaten to significantly curtail the rights and freedoms of the transgender community in the state. Moreover, these bills not only broaden the scope of what is considered unlawful but also intensify the penalties involved, including increased fines and extended jail time for violations.
The implications of these bills are extensive and deeply concerning. They not only threaten the mental and physical health of transgender individuals but also signify a dangerous erosion of LGBTQ+ rights in West Virginia.
Their implications also extend beyond West Virginia, potentially leading to similar legislation in other states as Republicans continue their attack on one of the most marginalized communities in America.
“The rise in legislative attacks aimed at our community is concerning, but it shows the desperation of lawmakers and extremists who are against transgender rights,” Orr said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined for now to weigh in on the contentious issue of bathroom access for transgender students by rejecting an Indiana school district’s appeal.
The court left in place an appeals court ruling that required a middle school in Martinsville, Indiana, to allow a transgender boy to use the bathroom that corresponds with his gender identity.
The student, identified in court papers as A.C., who has since graduated from John R. Wooden Middle School, is now in high school, where he is able to use his preferred bathroom.
The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville had wanted the justices to conclude that it is not required to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choosing.
At issue was whether either the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which says that the laws apply equally to everyone, or Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, protects transgender students in that context.
The court’s decision not to intervene means that litigation in lower courts nationwide will continue, with judges reaching differing conclusions. The Supreme Court is likely to weigh in on the issue at some point.
In 2023, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the school district, upholding a federal judge’s injunction that allowed several transgender students to use their preferred bathrooms.
The court noted that A.C., then 13, has identified as a boy since he was 8 years old and has for years used a male name, used male pronouns and adopted a “typically masculine haircut and clothing.”
The Biden administration has issued guidance saying that Title IX protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, meaning transgender students would be protected.
That approach has been contested in cases arising both from bathroom access and school sports. Last year, the administration proposed a new rule for transgender student athletes that would allow for some restrictions in competitive high school and college sports.
The Supreme Court in a surprise ruling in 2020 authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said in a 6-3 vote that federal law that bars sex discrimination in employment protected LGBTQ people, a ruling that angered conservatives. The new cases raise the question of whether the same reasoning applies to Title IX.
The Supreme Court in 2021 declined to take up a case about the question of whether transgender students can use school bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities as court battles have continued around the country. On a related issue, the court last year allowed a transgender girl in West Virginia to participate in girls’ sports.
Gender dysphoria diagnoses in the United States increased in all but one state in recent years, suggesting that a growing number of transgender people are seeking health care.
Gender dysphoria “refers to psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity,” according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Not all transgender people experience dysphoria. Treatment can include social shifts, such as wearing different clothing or going by a different name, or medical affirmation, which can involve puberty blockers, hormone treatment, and surgery. Medical treatment — gender-affirming care — typically requires a diagnosis from a health care professional before patients can receive it.
Despite a growing number of states seeking to ban gender-affirming care for minors and restrict the care for adults, more people are beginning to seek it by receiving a diagnosis, a recent report from Definitive Healthcare found.
Virginia, Indiana, and Utah were the states with the greatest increase in diagnoses between 2018 and 2022 The only state to see a decrease was South Dakota, which banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023.
South Dakota lawmakers had attempted to pass legislation banning care in 2020, which the report stated likely had “the dual chilling effects of reduced access to sympathetic providers and the self-directed seeking of care in states where long-term access was protected.”
The report also noted that “other states with bans on gender-affirming care for youth have seen year-to-year dips in gender dysphoria diagnoses, too,” though this does not necessarily indicate that less transgender residents are seeking care, but rather “possibly indicating that shifting social and political climates have pushed young patients and their parents to seek diagnoses in states that are friendlier to trans people.”
For patients under the age of 18, gender dysphoria diagnoses increased from 17.5 percent to 20.4 percent during the four-year period. The report notes this could be reflective of transgender identities becoming “more accepted by society,” in spite of the legislators pushing health care bans.
The Williams Institute estimates that 1.6 million people in the U.S. are transgender, nearly 20 percent of them being between the ages of 13 and 17. Among transgender youth, 35.1 percent (105,200 total) live in states that have restricted access to gender-affirming care, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
The family of a transgender volleyball player has added a South Florida school district as a defendant in a federal lawsuit that challenges a 2021 state law banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams, claiming school officials have placed the family in danger.
Attorneys for the family filed an amended complaint Thursday that adds the Broward School Board, the school district’s superintendent and the Florida High School Athletic Association. The school officials had been named as defendants when the lawsuit was initially filed in 2021 but were dropped the next year, leaving just the Florida Department of Education and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz as defendants.
“While we can’t comment on pending litigation, Broward County Public Schools remains committed to following all state laws,” district spokesman John J. Sullivan said in a statement. “The District assures the community of its dedication to the welfare of all its students and staff.”
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee, ruled in November that state officials had a right to enforce a 2021 law that bars transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes identified as female at birth but allowed the family to file an amended complaint.
The law, which supporters named “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” was championed and signed in by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president and has leaned heavily into cultural divides on race, sexual orientation and gender.
The transgender student, a Monarch High School 10th grader who played in 33 matches over the past two seasons, was removed from the team in November after the Broward County School District was notified by an anonymous tipster about her participation.
According to the lawsuit, the student has identified as female since before elementary school and has been using a girl’s name since second grade. At age 11 she began taking testosterone blockers and at 13 started taking estrogen to begin puberty as a girl. Her gender has also been changed on her birth certificate.
The girl’s removal from the volleyball team led hundreds of Monarch students to walk out of class in protest. At the same time, Broward Superintendent Peter Licata suspended or temporarily reassigned five school officials pending an investigation, including the girl’s mother, an information technician at the school.
The Associated Press is not naming the student to protect her privacy.
The initial lawsuit didn’t identify the student or her school, but the amended complaint said the family lost all privacy when the school district began its investigation. The student’s mother issued a statement at the time calling the outing of her daughter a “direct attempt to endanger” the girl.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, has been supporting the family.
“The reckless indifference to the well-being of our client and her family, and all transgender students across the State, will not be ignored,” the group’s litigation strategist, Jason Starr, said in a statement last month.
A new law in Maryland requires Medicaid to cover “medically necessary” gender-affirming care for residents — including care well beyond hormones or surgery.
The law went into effect on January 1. It requires coverage for “gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner.”
Voice therapy and lessons, scar and hair removal, hormone therapy, puberty blockers, fertility preservation, and “alterations” to the abdomen, genitals, chest, buttocks, neck, and face are all included. Patients cannot be denied unless a healthcare professional decides the treatment would be detrimental to their health.
“This order is focused on ensuring Maryland is a safe place for gender-affirming care, especially as other states take misguided and hateful steps to make gender-affirming care cause for legal retribution,” Moore added. “In Maryland, we are going to lead on this issue.”
Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) said the order shows that “This administration is saying to all LGBTQIA+ Marylanders: You deserve to be your authentic selves, during Pride month and every month. You deserve to live safely, openly, and freely; and receive the gender-affirming care you need.”
Lee Blinder, Executive Director of Trans Maryland, said, “This legislation emerged from the trans community experiences shared with our organization at Pride festivals and support groups around Maryland about barriers of access to care,. We are grateful to every individual who worked toward passing this groundbreaking bill. Thanks to the Moore-Miller Administration, Maryland is a sanctuary state for transgender people, and we will continue to work closely with the Administration to ensure expansion of access continues.”
Renee Lau, a state resident who started transitioning about five years ago, told CBS News, “I plan on having some surgeries and having consultations within the next two months. I would not believe the relief it is for me, because I never could have paid for [these services] out of pocket.”
Gender-affirming care is considered safe and essential to the well-being of trans people by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and other major U.S. and world health organizations.
Alabama can begin immediately enforcing a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender people under 19, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, granting the state’s request to stay a preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of the 2022 law.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that the injunction should be vacated, but the decision had been effectively on hold while families with transgender children asked the full appellate court to reconsider the decision. The Thursday order will allow the ban to take effect while the full court decides whether it will revisit the decision.
The state Attorney General Steve Marshall called the order a “significant victory for our country, for children and for common sense.”
“The physical and psychological safety of our children can now be better protected from these untested and life-altering chemical and surgical procedures through the implementation of the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” Marshall said.
Lawyers representing parents of transgender adolescents who challenged the ban said the decision will “hurt parents and children in the state.”
“Alabama’s transgender healthcare ban will harm thousands of transgender adolescents across the state and will put parents in the excruciating position of not being able to get the medical care their children need to thrive,” read a joint statement from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act into law in 2022, making it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for doctors to treat people under 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity.
At least 22 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and many of them face lawsuits or blocked enforcement. Courts have issued mixed rulings, with the nation’s first law, in Arkansas, struck down by a federal judge who said the ban violated the due process rights of young transgender people and their families.
Attorneys representing Tennessee transgender teens and their families have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors that a lower court allowed to go into effect. The court is expected to decide later this year if it will hear the case.
Four families with transgender children ranging in ages 12 to 17 challenged the Alabama law as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free speech rights, as well as an intrusion into family medical decisions. The U.S. Department of Justice joined their lawsuit, seeking to overturn the law.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, nominated to the court by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, ruled when issuing the preliminary injunction that Alabama had produced no credible evidence to show that transitioning medications are “experimental.” Alabama appealed the decision to the 11th Circuit. The challenge to the Alabama ban is scheduled to go to trial early this year.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights filed a statement of interest on Monday in connection with a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia concerning the administration of gender-affirming care in correctional settings.
According to a press release from the agency, the statement “explains that gender dysphoria falls within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)’s definition of ‘disability’ and affirms that correctional institutions cannot deny medically appropriate care for people with gender dysphoria, no matter their particular circumstances, consistent with the Eighth Amendment.”
“We are committed to ensuring constitutional conditions inside our jails and prisons so that those detained inside these facilities, including people with gender dysphoria can live safely and receive needed medical care,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.
“The U.S. Constitution requires that people incarcerated in jails and prisons receive necessary medical care, treatment and services to address serious medical conditions,” she said.
The case before the federal court addresses claims by an incarcerated transgender woman that she was denied necessary medical care — including surgeries recommended by four clinicians and consistent access to hormone therapy.