Official photo of Commissioner Emily Johnson Piper (Photo: Minnesota Department of Human Services).
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Minnesota filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Minnesota State Court challenging the current ban on using covering transition-related surgery expenses for transgender people.
The ACLU, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Evan Thomas and the LGBT rights group OutFront Minnesota, is suing Emily Johnson Piper in her role as the Commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, and demanding that the state repeal the coverage exclusions in both Medical Assistance, the state’s Medicaid program, and MinnesotaCare, the state’s program for lower-income residents without access to employee-sponsored health insurance. The ACLU argues that not only is the current exclusions are both discriminatory against transgender people, and have no basis in medical science.
“For many transgender people, transition-related surgery is a medical necessity and can sometimes be a matter of life and death,” Joshua Block, an attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Project. “Transgender Minnesotans — like everyone else — should be able to receive adequate health care based on medical standards of care.”
Under current Minnesota law, all transition-related surgical care is denied coverage, regardless of whether it is medically necessary for treating a person’s gender dysphoria. However, the same treatments are required to be covered under the federal Medicare program and under all private health insurance plans regulated by the state of Minnesota.
“Every major medical organization has recognized that policies banning coverage for medically necessary transition care have no basis in modern medical science,” Block continued. “Minnesota’s statute is a historical relic based purely on disapproval of transgender people.”
In addition to Medicare, 10 other states and the District of Columbia currently provide coverage for transition-related surgical care through their public health insurance or Medicaid programs.
Thomas, the lead plaintiff in the case, is currently on Medical Assistance and has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. After fighting depression, Thomas was able to begin hormone therapy and legally changed his name and gender earlier this year. But he is still being denied coverage for medically necessary transition-related surgery.
“A weight was lifted when I first began my gender transition and realized I didn’t have to pretend to be a woman anymore,” Thomas said in a statement. “Being denied surgical treatment is harmful to my health and well-being every day I’m forced to live in this body.”
A Christian school in the Atlanta suburbs forced a senior to withdraw just weeks before graduation after attending her prom with a transgender boy.
Emily Wright, who until recently attended North Cobb Christian School, went to her senior prom, which was held at an off-campus venue, with a friend who didn't attend the school.
"It was off-property. I did sign a form allowing her to bring a guest," Emily's mother, Tricia Wright, told Atlanta FOX affiliate WAGA-TV, noting that the only limitation on the form was related to the age of the guest.
Ten days after prom, Emily was called into the principal's office.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals reveals that detransitioning is not as common as opponents of transgender rights assert, and that the overwhelming reason for detransitioning is rooted in social stigma and lack of support.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals finds that detransitioning is far less common than anti-trans activists claim. When it does happen, it’s largely due to external pressures like stigma and lack of support, not regret over transitioning.
A transgender woman swimmer in the United Kingdom recently competed topless at a Masters event, protesting a policy that requires her to compete based on her assigned sex at birth.
Seeking to highlight flaws in the one-size-fits-all ban on transgender competitors, Anne Isabella Coombes, 67, of Reading, chose to wear a men’s swimsuit while competing -- exposing her breasts in the process.
Coombes, a member of the Reading Swimming Club for 30 years, transitioned five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When public swim meets resumed, she applied to Swim England -- the national governing body of aquatic sports -- asking to compete as a female, reports the Reading Chronicle.
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