Chair Farías frames affirming care as life-saving and under nationwide attack
Council Member Amanda Farías introduces herself as chair of Women and Gender Equity. She cites Human Rights Campaign analysis that 27 states plus Puerto Rico passed bans affecting 48% of transgender youth, and a survey showing 87% of trans youth using hormones feared losing access.
Thank you so much.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Councilmember Amanda Farias, pronouns she, her, and I get to chair the Committee on Women and Gender Equity.
We're excited to join the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Committee on Hospitals and their chairs, Chair Caban and Chair Narcisse, for today's oversight hearing on access to gender-affirming care and associated mental health outcomes for transgender and non-binary youth.
As stated by my colleagues, access to gender-affirming care is a life-saving medical necessity that dramatically improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse, transgender, and non-binary children and adolescents.
Every child deserves to grow up feeling supported in who they are.
And supporting transgender and non-binary youth means defending their right to health care.
Currently, access to gender-affirming care for young people is under attack nationwide.
An analysis by the Human Rights Campaign found that 27 states plus Puerto Rico have successfully passed bans on gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary youth, affecting 48% of transgender youth nationwide.
A recent survey found that
87% of transgender and non-binary youth and young people who's used hormones to support their gender transition or expression were concerned about losing access to this care.