Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential hopeful, tweeted in support of accessible, affordable health care for trans communities on Tuesday morning:
For those unfamiliar, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender Law Center have created the Protect Trans Health platform as a means of collecting and portraying stories of the extreme discrimination many trans people experience while trying to access health care. The overall goal? To show the Department of Health and Human Services, in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back protections on trans health care (thanks, Obama).
As of now, the DHHS has reportedly received thousands of comments opposing this change to the ACA. The fear is (as well as setting a precedent) that these changes would allow healthcare providers to deny gender-affirming surgeries and other transition-related care to trans people. You can submit your story or comment up until midnight on August 13.
As we’ve covered here at Daily Kos, trans people often have a uniquely difficult experience in accessing health care. Many, many Americans worry about whether or not they can afford their insurance (and even with insurance, the cost of medical care can still be debilitating), but for trans people, additional barriers exist. For example, some trans people carry the burden of having to educate healthcare professionals about the nuances of trans health, pointing to a prevalent gap in medical training. Others experience discrimination in the form of deadnaming, incorrect pronoun usage, or otherwise hateful comments.
And without a doubt, these barriers can be even worse for trans people who live with multiple marginalizations. For example, trans sex workers or trans people of color may face discrimination based not only on their gender identity but also their occupations or race (or both!).
Given that the trans population also lives with unique health needs—ranging from higher rates of mental health issues, like depression and suicidal ideation, to gender-affirming treatments—it’s especially necessary that trans people can both access and afford health care. Gender-affirming care isn’t an option—it’s a necessity.