|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
Attorney General Raoul joins coalition to protect access to gender-affirming care
From a press release
2022-12-08
|
|
This article shared 4362 times since Thu Dec 8, 2022
|
|
CHICAGO Attorney General Kwame Raoul today stood up for transgender rights, joining a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting efforts to promote equal access to healthcare in West Virginia. The plaintiffs, two transgender individuals, brought suit after being unable to obtain Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgical care through the West Virginia State Medicaid Program.
"Transgender people deserve access to gender-affirming care, and I am committed to fighting against health care discrimination," Raoul said. "I will continue to work with my fellow attorneys general to support the rights of transgender people and oppose efforts that jeopardize the safety and health of the LGBTQ+ community."
The brief, filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, asks the court to affirm a lower court ruling in the case of Fain v. Crouch. That ruling determined that the West Virginia State Medicaid Program's denial of medically necessary, gender-affirming surgical care violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Raoul and the coalition argue that discrimination against transgender people violates the Equal Protection Clause because it constitutes discrimination based on sex, as found by Supreme Court rulings and other cases.
The amicus brief argues that gender-affirming treatment improves well-being at minimal expense. Illinois and other joining states have adopted policies ensuring access to gender-affirming care for their residents. According to Raoul and the coalition, these policies have categorically improved the well-being of transgender people, reducing the risk of suicide, substance abuse and depression, while not meaningfully increasing premium costs.
Today's brief is Attorney General Raoul's latest action to defend the rights of transgender and LGBTQ+ people. In October, Raoul joined a coalition supporting coverage for gender-affirming care under the North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees. In August, Raoul joined two separate coalitions of attorneys general supporting LGBTQ+ students against discrimination in the classroom. He also joined a coalition of attorneys general opposing an Alabama law that criminalizes evidence-based and medically accepted gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. |
|
|
|
This article shared 4362 times since Thu Dec 8, 2022
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | Vera Drew paints a queer portrait of Gotham City with 'The People's Joker' 2024-05-06 The People's Joker is a cinematic treat for the senses where writer, director and star Vera Drew (an Illinois native) tells a trans woman's story through the lens of comic book characters. The Joker is a ...
|
| | WORLD Australian law, soccer players, Grindr suit, South Korean situation 2024-05-03 In Australia, Queensland has updated its Anti-Discrimination Act to explicitly protect non-binary and gender-diverse people for the first time, PinkNews reported. The changes came into effect on April 29, and they impose tougher penalties for hate ...
|
| | NATIONAL Funding, 'Bytes' event, Oregon housing, Florida's refusal 2024-05-03 U.S. House lawmakers will no longer be able to request earmarked funding for some nonprofits under a change in eligibility made by the Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the Rhode Island Current noted. The change ...
|
| | Howard Brown Health ratifies first-time contract agreement with union-represented staff 2024-05-02 --From a press release - CHICAGO — May 2, 2024 — Howard Brown Health and its workers represented by the Illinois Nurses Association have reached an agreement on a first-time contract that will cover nearly 400 administrative, clinical, and retail employees ...
|
| | Sixth Circuit hears appeal of ruling upholding Tennessee's discriminatory birth certificate policy 2024-05-02 --From a press release - (Nashville, TN, May 2, 2024) Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit heard oral argument in Lambda Legal's appeal of a district court ruling upholding Tennessee's discriminatory birth certificate policy. Tennessee' ...
|
| | Half of LGBTQ+ college faculty surveyed consider moving to another state due to anti-diversity, equity, inclusion laws 2024-05-01 --From a Williams Institute press release - Anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) laws have negatively impacted the teaching, research, and health of LGBTQ+ college faculty, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. As a result of ...
|
| | GLAAD releases 19th 'Where We Are on TV' study 2024-05-01 --From a press release - Los Angeles, CA - Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - GLAAD released its 19th edition of the annual Where We Are On TV study, which maps the presence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters ...
|
| | Chicago models strike a pose at Trans Media Fashion show 2024-04-30 On April 27 Trans Media Fashion presented its first biannual fashion show for 2024. The event served as a fundraiser for Howard Brown Health, Broadway Youth Center and the Vernita Gray Council for Philanthropy, all the ...
|
| | C2E2 brings comics fans and gamers to McCormick Place 2024-04-29 The 15th edition of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) flew into the convention center McCormick Place on a mission to be bigger than ever from April 26-28. The popular event succeeded with record numbers ...
|
| | Court: State healthcare plans must pay for gender-affirming operations 2024-04-29 In a major win for transgender rights, the Richmond, Virginia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit became the first such judicial body in the country to rule that state healthcare plans must pay for ...
|
| | Chicago youth put spark in Center on Halsted art fair 2024-04-29 On April 27, Center on Halsted presented an art fair for members of its youth services at Muchin College Prep, 1 N. State St. The event featured works in several media, among them painting, crochet, drawing ...
|
| | Hundreds urge NCAA to not ban trans athletes from women's sports 2024-04-27 A group of more than 400 current and former Olympic, professional and collegiate athletes; more than 300 academics; and approximately 100 advocacy groups released separate letters urging the NCAA not to ban transgender women from competing ...
|
| | GLAAD responds to Biden administration release of updated rules to Section 1557 of ACA 2024-04-27 --From a press release - (New York, NY - April 26, 2024) - Today GLAAD, the world's leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization, responded to the release by the Department of Health and Human Services of updated regulations to Section 1557 of ...
|
| | Scotland, Wales stop issuing puberty blockers after Cass Review 2024-04-27 Following the release of England's Cass Review, Scotland's NHS (National Health Service) has paused prescribing puberty blockers to children referred by its specialist gender clinic, the BBC reported. Also, Glasgow's ...
|
| | Biden administration strengthens Affordable Care Act protections, health coverage for LGBTQ+ Americans 2024-04-27 --From a press release - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced the finalization of a new regulation strengthening non-discrimination protections enforced by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The updated rule, implementing Section 1557 ...
| |
|
|
|
|