Tag: transgender

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Tennessee Equality Project Speaks on Trans Healthcare Bill

Credit: state of Tennessee

Tennessee medical professionals could lose their license if they provide gender-affirming care to minors with a new law now under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly.

the proposed legislation says that these procedures can “lead to the minor becoming irreversibly sterile, having increased risk of disease and illness, or [suffer] from adverse and sometimes fatal psychological consequences.”

This legislation also allows civil litigation against a healthcare provider who performs such procedures. These lawsuits could be brought within 30 years from the date the minor reaches 18 years of age, or within 10 years from the date of the minor’s death if the minor dies. It also allows relatives of a minor to bring a wrongful death action against a healthcare providers in such cases under certain conditions.

In October of 2022, the Flyer reported that Tennessee law currently allows for access to gender-affirming healthcare for youth.

Jace Wilder studies and teaches transgender policies for the Tennessee Equality Project.

“We really have to keep a critical eye on what is the goal of our legislature, and what initiatives or what funding they’re getting to really just continue to police and criminalize a minority group of people,” Wilder said.

The Flyer was able to talk with Wilder, about gender affirming care for minors, misconceptions around the procedures, and what could be next for trans youth in Tennessee. — Kailynn Johnson

Why would doctors choose not to delay care for minors who are transitioning?

Jace Wilder: So, one of the things that gets left behind a lot is the narrative of the effects of delaying care. That includes suicide rates going up. That one has been proven over and over again. Lack of access to care, lack of actual equitable care, and — even more so — not having support from both family and from medical providers proves to have worse outcomes for those youth that have to delay their care.

When they see laws like this, that prohibit them from accessing their own care, they automatically can see that their state doesn’t really care about them, or care about their health care access. So, when it comes to delaying care, you’re also reinforcing that isolation.

Whenever we go into doctors’ offices, the assumption right now is that you just go in, and you get on hormones, and you get surgery, and it’s all just kind of like this one movement. But the reality is that, according to both [World Professional Association for Transgender Health – WPATH], which is the organization that provides the standards of care for trans people…is that doctors can just sometimes provide counseling to families about how to respect and encourage their trans child after they come out, provide education for those parents, who may be not ready to take that step with their child about accessing health care, or accessing HRT and surgeries, and continue to counsel them.

This bill will eliminate the ability to even have those conversations because it’s seen as coercion…and can be declared child abuse of a parent to just ask their doctor about how to care for their trans kid.

You mentioned that one of the harmful effects of this bill would be that trans youth would believe that their state doesn’t care about them. The text of the bill states that, “the legislature must take action to protect the health and welfare of minors.” Do you believe that this statement contradicts the actual legislation?

JW: It ignores the actual wishes and desires of the trans youth. What they’re doing is ignoring years and years of advocacy and science from both scientists who care and doctors that actually care for trans youth, and the families that have seen the positive effects of transition or have seen the positive effects of just providing support for trans youth. It’s ignoring all that in favor of acting like a hero, while villainizing a minoritized community. They’re just ignoring what is actually wanted by trans youth and their families.

You also talked a little bit earlier about how a lot of people kind of have this misconception that there is just one approach to trans healthcare. Do you think any of these misconceptions have contributed to the legislature pushing for this legislation to be passed?

JW: I think that some of the misconception comes from…one, the speed of it. The standards of care that they are provided with show that there are certain ages in which they are already not allowed to give hormone replacement therapy or puberty blockers.

They, also already laid out who is allowed and who is not allowed to have surgeries, and all hospitals, any hospital or medical clinic with any kind of accreditation, that would make it legal for them to even function have to follow those standards of care because they’re implemented by the hospitals.

A lot of times we get stuck in this narrative that it’s all this one giant conspiracy to speed up the process to transition people who should not be transitioned. The reality is people are actually struggling to even access the care in the first place, and when they do it takes a really long time to get through that process, if they even do by the time they’re 18.

What do you all think is next for trans healthcare in Tennessee?

JW: We’re seeing is this escalation to even saying that trans people who are 25 — legal adults who can vote, legal adults who can drink, who can serve for their country — these individuals don’t have the right to determine their own health care, based off of this weird idea that the state knows best. But this only for this very small group that cannot be heard in their own legislature.

It’s just going to push and possibly extend out to the age of 25. In fact, [Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland)] kind of mentioned that  alongside [Daily Wire host] Matt Walsh in the House committee hearing that just happened.

We’re also seeing that in the drag queen bill they labeled drag as impersonation of another gender, meaning that we’re really getting on that ledge of going back to the 1980s. It’s drawing back to that idea that impersonating another gender is somehow criminal, and that being another gender than you were born as is a criminal act. So, we are seeing the full on policing and criminalization of trans folks at this point.

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ACLU Critical of Methodist Le Bonheur’s Transgender Policies

(Credit: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is taking Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) in Memphis to task for canceling gender affirmation surgery for a 19-year-old patient.

According to the ACLU, Chris Evans was notified days before a scheduled surgery that the hospital had adopted a policy to deny gender-affirming care to transgender and nonbinary patients. 

“All people should be able to access necessary medical care without fear of discrimination because of who they are,” said ACLU-TN Staff Attorney Lucas Cameron-Vaughn. “Denial of healthcare results in life-threatening situations for all patients. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is risking the lives of its patients by jumping into culture wars. Discrimination does not belong in healthcare.

A letter sent by Cameron-Vaughan alleges Evans was told of the facility’s decision on November 21. 

“Such a policy is unlawful discrimination based on sex pursuant to Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as discrimination on the basis of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act,” wrote Cameron-Vaughan.

“Categorically refusing to provide treatment to an individual because they are transgender or nonbinary is prohibited sex discrimination under Section 1557,” the letter continues.

The ACLU “demands” the healthcare facility respond by the close of business on December 2 with confirmation Evans’ surgery has been scheduled to be performed before December 31. 

Should MLH not comply, the ACLU plans to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

MLH’s website states the healthcare facility is Tennessee’s largest provider of care to TennCare/Medicaid and uninsured patients, serving more than 128,000 adult TennCare and Medicaid patients annually. 

A web page titled “LGBTQ+” has been deactivated from the site. 

In a statement, MLH said, “Our commitment remains to deliver high quality and compassionate care to any patient regardless of their race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. In recent weeks, some care providers voiced questions about patients receiving gender affirming procedures at a facility affiliated with our health system. This resulted in a temporary pause to review current practices. We have not changed our practices regarding the treatment of transgender and/or non-binary patients. We have not wavered from our commitment as a health system for all. We understand the physicians are moving forward with getting the patients rescheduled before the end of the year.”ACLU-TN-Demand-Letter-to-MLH-11.30.22_final.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

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TN House GOP Urge Vanderbilt Hospital to Stop Transgender Surgeries on Minors

Tennessee House Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Vanderbilt hospital urging it to immediately stop gender transitioning surgeries on minors.

Sixty-two members of the House Republican Caucus signed the request in the wake of social media videos purportedly showing a physician calling the surgeries a “huge money maker” because of the number of follow-up visits required. 

State Rep. Jason Zachary, a Knoxville Republican who wrote the letter, details “serious ethical concerns” about procedures Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic is allegedly performing on minors, in addition to claims the hospital could be discriminating against employees who refuse to participate in the surgeries.

Zachary’s letter says he and his colleagues are “alarmed” by a Daily Wire report about “surgical mutilations” of minors and calls the clinic’s practices “nothing less than abuse.”

“While those 18-years and older are recognized as legal adults and free to make decisions in their best interests, it is an egregious error of judgment that an institution as highly respected as Vanderbilt would condone (and promote) harmful and irreversible procedures for minor children in the name of profit,” Zachary’s letter says.

The letter also requests Vanderbilt hospital, Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, School of Nursing and affiliates to “honor” conscientious objectors whose religious beliefs prohibit their participation in certain procedures.

The letter demands a response from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Board of Directors within 10 days of receiving the letter and says that will determine what action the Legislature takes when it convenes in January.

Asked about the letter Wednesday, Vanderbilt University Medical Center referred questions to its statement after the Twitter videos were posted last week, saying the media posts “misrepresent facts” about the care it provides to transgender patients.

The hospital noted it provides care to all adolescents “in compliance with state law and in line with professional proactive standards and guidance established by medical specialty societies,” including requiring parental consent to treat minors for issues related to transgender care.

In the videos taken from 2018 and 2020, Vanderbilt physician Dr. Shayne Taylor calls gender transition surgery “a big money maker” but does not refer to children.

Another video shows a Vanderbilt plastic surgeon discussing guidelines doctors must follow before doing “top surgeries,” or double mastectomies, on transgender patients. Those include a letter documenting persistent gender dysphoria from a licensed mental health provider. Patients who are 16 and 17 who’ve been on testosterone and have parental permission can qualify, the doctor said.

A state law passed in 2021 prohibits hormone therapies – such as puberty blockers – for prepubescent patients, a practice physicians told lawmakers at the time was not part of their standard of care.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

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Tennessee AG Slatery Celebrates Win In LGBTQ Discrimination Lawsuit

Y’all means all, y’all. (Photo: Nashville LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce)

Tennessee’s Attorney General celebrated a win for discrimination last week after a federal judge blocked a move that would have allowed trans kids to play sports on a team of their gender and more.

In September, Tennessee AG Herbert Slatery led a 20-state coalition in a lawsuit to stop anti-discrimination guidance from President Joe Biden. The order was issued in January and strives to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. 

Biden’s guidance challenged state laws on whether schools must allow biological males to compete on girls’ sports teams, whether employers and schools may maintain sex-separated showers and locker rooms, and whether individuals may be compelled to use another person’s preferred pronouns. 

Herbert Slatery (Credit: State of Tennessee)

“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” reads Biden’s order from January. “Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted, or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes.”

However, Slatery claimed in September that Biden’s order “threatens women’s sports and student and employee privacy.” To get there legally, Slatery and his coalition (including Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and more) claimed only Congress — not the president — can change “these sensitive issues” of “enormous importance.” The coalition’s complaint asserts that the claim that the order simply implements the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock decision on anti-discrimination is faulty.

“The agencies simply do not have that authority,” Slatery said in a statement at the time. “But that has not stopped them from trying. … All of this, together with the threat of withholding educational funding in the midst of a pandemic, warrants this lawsuit.”

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee blocked the guidance, which Slatery called “expansive and unlawful” and would have forced, among others things, the use of “biologically inaccurate preferred pronouns.”

“The District Court rightly recognized the federal government put Tennessee and other states in an impossible situation: choose between the threat of legal consequences including the withholding of federal funding, or altering our state laws to comply,” Slatery said in a statement. “Keep in mind these new, transformative rules were made without you — without your elected leaders in Congress having a say — which is what the law requires. We are thankful the court put a stop to it, maintained the status quo as the lawsuit proceeds, and reminded the federal government it cannot direct it’s agencies to rewrite the law.” 

The court ruling drew scorn from LGBTQ advocates, who were quick to point out the judge in the case, Charles Atley Jr., was appointed by former president Donald Trump. 

“We are disappointed and outraged by this ruling from the Eastern District of Tennessee where, in yet another example of far-right judges legislating from the bench, the court blocked guidance affirming what the Supreme Court decided in Bostock v. Clayton County: that LGBTQ+ Americans are protected under existing civil rights law,” Joni Madison, interim president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “Nothing in this decision can stop schools from treating students consistent with their gender identity. And nothing in this decision eliminates schools’ obligations under Title IX or students’ or parents’ abilities to bring lawsuits in federal court. HRC will continue to fight these anti-transgender rulings with every tool in our toolbox.”

This preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the matter is resolved. The matter could get a further decision from the federal court in Tennessee, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, or the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Transgender Athlete Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk

(Credit: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash)

Tennessee moved a step closer Monday to pulling state funding from K-12 public schools if they allow transgender youth to participate in girls sports.

A bill that cleared the state Senate by a vote of 26-5 attaches financial penalties to a 2021 law that prohibited trans athletes from competing on middle and high school teams based on their gender identity. The legislation passed the House last month.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who called last year’s law a step “to preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition,” is expected to sign the funding measure into law.

Several civil rights groups have since challenged the 2021 ban in court in a case that is tentatively set for trial next year.

A similar bill that would ban transgender athletes at the college level from participating in women’s sports in Tennessee also cleared the Senate on Monday. That measure is awaiting action before a House finance subcommittee.

Rules governing transgender athletes returned to the spotlight this year when University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a trans woman, began smashing records.

In January, in line with the U.S. and international Olympic committees, the NCAA adopted a sport-by-sport approach for determining participation by transgender athletes.

Sponsors of both bills in Tennessee’s GOP-controlled legislature argued transgender females — because their assigned sex at birth was male — are naturally stronger, faster, and bigger than those assigned female at birth, giving them an unfair advantage in sports.

“This legislation is all about setting a level playing field for all of our female athletes so they have fair competition,” said Sen. Joey Hensley, a Hohenwald Republican who co-sponsored the K-12 bill with Rep. John Ragan, a Republican from Oak Ridge.

Opponents said the legislation is about discrimination, not fairness, and is unnecessary and even dangerous.

“There’s no indication this is a problem in Tennessee schools, but … there are kids who feel targeted by this legislature,” said Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, a Democrat from Nashville. “And these are oftentimes kids who are struggling with a lot that most of us don’t understand and oftentimes are more likely to be at risk of committing suicide than anybody else.”

According to an analysis by The Associated Press, Tennessee passed more laws last year aimed at transgender people than any other state in the nation. One law, for instance, puts public schools at risk of losing lawsuits if they let transgender students or employees use multiperson bathrooms or locker rooms that do not reflect their assigned sex at birth.

Marta W. Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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Anti-Transgender Bills “Crushing,” “Unconscionable”

Transgender 8th-grader Adam, right, and his mother, Amy Allen, talk about how anti-transgender bills in Tennessee affect their lives.

Transgender 8th-grader Adam, right, and his mother, Amy Allen, talk about how anti-transgender bills in Tennessee affect their lives. (Source: Human Rights Campaign)

Anti-transgender bills continue to progress through the Tennessee House and Senate, bills some say are part of a national effort by ”opponents of LGBTQ equality across the nation.”

Three bills now moving through the committee processes in Nashville target transgender children, specifically. One would mandate student athletes to play on the team ”determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student’s birth.” Another would stop sexual identity change therapy to minors who have not yet entered puberty, something at least one physician said is not happening at all in the state currently. A last bill would, again, mandate transgender students use the bathroom determined by the sex listed on their birth certificates. 

Cathryn Oakley, the state legislative director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said during a press call Thursday that bills like this pose economic costs “from the inevitable litigation that” would follow their passage. There’s also a reputation cost for states like Tennessee that “persist — and Tennessee does persist — in innovating anti-transgender legislation.” But Oakley said such bills have a human cost.

“We also see the harm these bills perpetrate even when they’re just introduced,” she said. “Even if they’re not passed into law, the harm that folks go through watching their legislators debate the existence of trans youth is crushing.”

Even if they’re not passed into law, the harm that folks go through watching their legislators debate the existence of trans youth is crushing.

Cathryn Oakley

One Tennessee transgender youth, Adam, spoke during the HRC’s press call and said he’s a “pretty normal kid” that likes video games, music, and art. The Mt. Juliet 8th-grader used to go to a public middle school and was offered the bathrooms in the nurses office, the guidance office, or the faculty bathroom. They were not close to his classes, he said, and using them just made him stand out more “and alienated me further.” 

“So, I started not to drink anything during the day and holding it until I got home,” said Adam, who did not give his last name during the news conference. “Everyone goes to the bathroom. So, why should it be more difficult for trans kids who already have enough to worry about?”

Dr. Kristin Rager, a pediatrician in Nashville, said she cares for a number of transgender patients. She opposes the legislation that intervenes in health care and said there is “zero evidence to suggest there are dangers within our current system of care in Tennessee.” 

Rager busted some transgender myths on the call. No one is performing sex reassignment surgeries on the genitals of anyone under 18, she said. Transgender kids that have not hit puberty are not being treated with hormones or hormone blockers. However, those treatments are “safe, effective, and fully reversible” in youths that have started puberty. 

“These bills that are being introduced are and attempt to criminalize parents — these wonderful parents and their pediatricians — over lawmaker concerns that are, frankly, unfounded,” Rager said. 

Bills like the ones in Tennessee have been filed in state houses across the country said, Hannah Willard, the vice president of government affairs for Freedom for All Americans. They amount to the “worst attack on transgender people in recent memory.” 

These bills come from a “small but vocal group of organizations” pushing to chip away at LGBTQ equality, Willard said. These groups include the Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, Eagle Forum, and more, according to the HRC. 

“These bills are to spread myths and lies about who transgender people are and it’s unconscionable that transgender youth are in the crosshairs of this legislation,” Willard said.

Watch the full press call here:

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“Transphobic” GOP Bill Aims (Again) at Transgender Athletes, Lee Approves

A bill from Tennessee Republicans targets transgender student athletes again this year and Governor Bill Lee’s statements for the legislation were “hurtful,” according to some lawmakers.

The bill from Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) and Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) would require “that a student’s gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event be determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student’s birth.” A similar measure failed in the legislature last year.

This year’s movement may have gotten a bump from Lee on Wednesday, according to The Tennessean.

“Transgenders participating in women’s sports will destroy women’s sports,” Lee said. “It will ruin the opportunity for girls to earn scholarships. It will put a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there.”

Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) called the bill “hate legislation.” She called Lee’s statements “hurtful” and “transphobic” and called the whole thing “ugliness” that could hurt the state’s economy.

“What a hurtful thing for a leader to say,” Campbell said in a Medium post. “There have been zero incidents of this being an issue. This is just hate legislation, and to double down with an insult to our LGBTQ community is unnecessary.”

‘Transphobic’ GOP Bill Aims (Again) at Transgender Athletes, Lee Approves

Tennessee Senate Democrats said the legislation “may not solve any real problems, but it has caused real harm: to state economies as business goes elsewhere, with resources wasted on court battles and to the mental health of trans people affected by this ugliness.”

For its part, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) added the bill to the top of its 2021 Slate of Hate, bills aimed at limiting the rights of those in the LGBTQ community.

”This bill repeats the effort to prevent transgender students from participating in high school and middle school sports,” reads the TEP blog. “It ties a student’s gender to the original birth certificate. The ’whereas’ clauses attempt to pit transgender people against women’s sports.”

As an example, the bill says girls work hard to succeed in sports, sometimes to get scholarships.

“It is unfortunate for some girls that those dreams, goals, and opportunities for participation, recruitment, and scholarships can be directly and negatively affected by new school policies permitting boys who are male in every biological respect to compete in girls’ athletic competitions if they claim a female gender identity,” reads the bill.

[pdf-1]

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Report: South Has Most LGBTQ Residents In the U.S.

CREDIT: Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

The South is really gay, y’all.

A new report from two gay rights groups says that one in three LGBTQ people in the country call the South their home, more than any other region in the country.

The report says LGBTQ people live in the South despite its “hostile policy landscape.” Of those LGBTQ Southerners, 93 percent live in states with laws that negatively impact “virtually every aspect of daily life” for them. For all of this, the group called its report, “Telling a New Southern Story: LGBTQ Resilience, Resistance, and Leadership.” Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

“Contrary to media depictions of LGBTQ people primarily living in New York or California, the South is home to more LGBTQ people than any other region, as well as incredible racial diversity among LGBTQ people,” said Logan Casey, policy researcher at the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and author of the report. “LGBTQ advocates in the South are both creative and effective in response to the political landscape and have often led the nation in working in broad coalitions and across a wide range of issues.”

The report is from Colorado-based MAP and North Carolina-based Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE). It finds that 3.6 million LGBTQ adults live in the South. The South is also home to over half a million transgender adults, more than any other region. Also, more than one in five LGBTQ Southerners are Black, more than any other region of the country.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

Here are some other key findings from the report:

• LGBTQ Southerners are more likely than LGBTQ people outside the South to be religiously affiliated, with over half of LGBTQ Southerners being religiously affiliated.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

• LGBTQ Southerners experience multiple challenges in economic security, health access and outcomes, as well as in daily life

• According to a survey from the CSE, 71 percent of LGBTQ Southerners have experienced harassment related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

• 23 percent of LGBTQ Southerners have experienced physical violence, with higher rates for people who are transgender.

Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality

• One in three Black LGBTQ Southerners reported experiencing physical violence because they are LGBTQ, the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group.

Progress has been made across the South in the last 10 years, according to the report, despite harsh state policies. LGBTQ people are innovative, focusing on building community and providing direct support to address community needs without waiting for state legislatures, the report says.

“It’s true that LGBTQ Southerners experience a lot of barriers to equality and full inclusion, from a difficult policy landscape to the cultural realities of the South,” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the CSE. “These forces often require that we organize in different ways, dreaming up new strategies, finding ways to work the seams and the fault lines — in other words, that we approach organizing in ways that are both queer and Southern.

“There’s a deep sense of resolve and hopefulness, even as we also carry significant pain and grief. The impact of LGBTQ people staying in the South, being out, sharing our stories, being in public leadership – all of this is changing old notions of what’s possible in the South. This is our home, and to claim it as such is an act of both resistance and reclamation.”
Movement Advancement Project/Campaign for Southern Equality


Read the entire report for yourself right here:
[pdf-1]

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Memphis Gaydar News

CHOICES Receives Grant to Support LGBTQ Health Care

CREDIT: Facebook/CHOICES

Facebook/CHOICES

CHOICES’ main clinic on Poplar

CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health is receiving a $5,000 grant to assist in its efforts to transform LGBTQ health equity in the South.

CHOICES, a non-profit that offers reproductive health care services here, including transgender healthcare, is one of four recipients of the community grant.

The Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE), an Asheville, North Carolina-based organization working to improve LGBTQ equality in all areas, also awarded grants to organizations in Asheville, Greenville, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia.

CSE awarded a total of $30,000 to CHOICES and the other three organizations in an effort to “promote innovations in providing health care to better serve LGBTQ Southerners.”

“The infusion of funding to organizations on the leading edge of serving LBGTQ Southerners is designed to support new models in the South that increase access to care and ensure that people are treated with dignity and respect in health care settings,” a statement from CSE reads.

More than one third of all LGBTQ Americans live in the South, where they experience “disproportionate health disparities,” according to the group.

“The South is the epicenter for the modern HIV crisis in the United States, particularly for transgender women of color and black men who have sex with men,” CSE’s statement continues. “Transgender and non-binary Southerners are frequently confronted with ignorance or discrimination while seeking care.”

Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of CSE said health care is a “human right that is fundamental to being able to survive and thrive.” The goal is for the grant recipients to use “innovation and grit to create new models to help Southern LGBTQ people access the care they need and deserve,” Beach-Ferrara adds.

With the grant, CHOICES plans to provide free sexually-transmitted infections (STI) testing, education, and referrals to LGBTQ patients through a pilot program in partnership with OUTMemphis.

[pullquote-1]

“With funds from the Southern Equality Fund, CHOICES is excited to work with our local partner to provide free STI testing and linkage to care for LGBTQ persons in Memphis,” Katy Leopard, assistant director of CHOICES, said.

Currently, CHOICES provides wellness exams to LGBTQ patients that include breast exams, birth control consultation, HIV testing, hormone management, and overall health evaluations.

Leopard said the clinic has nearly 200 transgender patients in the Mid-South area and that it can be difficult for those patients to find care elsewhere in Memphis.

“It’s very difficult for that population to find caring providers who ask questions in the right way and don’t ask unnecessary questions,” Leopard said. “A lot of our transgender patients have been wronged by the healthcare system. So they have a real wariness when coming to see a healthcare provider at all. So the fact that they see CHOICES as a place where they can come and be respected and valued is really big.”

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Lawsuit Challenges Tennessee Transgender Restrictions

CREDIT: Lambda Legal

Lambda Legal

Kayla Gore, of Memphis, speaks during a news conference Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in Nashville.

Four transgender Tennesseans sued the state Tuesday to challenge a law prohibiting them from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates.

The case was filed by Lambda Legal, a national advocacy group working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV. The lead plaintiff in the case is Kayla Gore, 33, of Memphis.

“I have been a woman my entire life,” Gore said in a statement. “However, the state of Tennessee refuses to recognize my identity and forces me to carry incorrect identity documents.
[pullquote-1] “In times where anti-trans violence is escalating, especially against transgender women of color, I deserve to have identity documents that reflect who I am and don’t put me in harm’s way – the same as anyone would want for themself and their loved ones.”

Tennessee is one of only three states, including Kansas and Ohio, that bars citizens from changing their gender on their birth certificate. Lambda Legal filed lawsuits challenging policies in those states, too.

“Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico acknowledge the importance of allowing people to have access to essential government identity documents that accurately reflect their sex, consistent with their gender identity,” said Lambda Legal senior attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan. “It is time for Tennessee to join them. We won’t rest until we remove every governmental barrier to recognizing and respecting every transgender person’s identity in this country.”

The suit was here filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville on behalf of four transgender people born in Tennessee – Gore, Jason Scott, and two plaintiffs identified by their initials, L.G. and K.N.

In the suit, Lambda Legal argues Tennessee’s policies violate the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Also, policies here violate citizens’ free speech rights, according to Lambda Legal.
[pullquote-2] “I have had to put up with a lot since I decided to live as the man that I am over twenty-five (25) years ago,” said Scott, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. “The state of Tennessee does not get to define who I am by incorrectly identifying me as female on my birth certificate. Getting a correct birth certificate in alignment with who I am would be life-changing.”

For more on the case, go here.