Trans Formations Project Newsletter ∙ 8/26/22

Hello everyone! It is 8-26-2022, and as always, this week we’re covering updates in ongoing legislative proceedings involving trans rights and the legal status of trans people in the U.S.

Also, there’s an action folks can take this week as far as existing legislation is concerned!

See, the Affordable Care Act has a section known as Section 1557. This particular section of the act is particularly critical for trans health care access–indeed, it’s relatively unknown, but has been important in the expansion of trans rights in the U.S. that occurred during the early 2010s, and countering it was one of Trump’s most egregious attacks on trans people. Biden almost immediately reinstated rulings on the section, and now there is a motion to expand interpretations of Section 1557 so as to consider denying care to trans people as criminal discrimination. There’s a public comment period on this open until October 3rd, and if you want to submit a comment to help see this become official, here’s how. 

The Thing(s) We Won This Week 

In Utah, 3rd District Court Judge Keith A. Kelly has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of Utah’s anti-trans sports ban. The ban in question was precipitated by exactly one trans girl participating in school sports and vetoed by Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox prior to an override. The ban had already led to spurious investigations of student athletes, insisted upon by parents sore about their child’s defeat, so its pause during the ongoing lawsuit is a welcome one. 

Further, there are some positive developments in Brandt et al. v. Rutledge et al. This lawsuit challenges the Arkansas ban on youth transgender care which criminalizes doctors who even so much as refer youth for gender-affirming care, much less practice it. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction preventing the law from going into effect until the case goes to trial on October 17, 2022. In said decision, the court in question also directly dismissed misinformation regarding the state of transgender care abroad (particularly in Finland). 

What The Heck Happened This Week?! 

First of all, what happened this week was what was threatened last week: Florida’s ban on Medicaid coverage for trans anything went into effect. And Marjorie Taylor Greene’s nation-level house bill has been released, in all its horrible glory. 

Further, Utah Republicans have begun floating the idea of repealing Utah’s recent ban on conversion therapy for queer and trans youth. The ban itself only dates back to 2020, and was a huge step forward at the time (if one that never should have taken that long to make). Eyes on this, as other State GOPs may try it if they advance with this idea. If you’re curious about the exact legal status of conversion therapy in your state, you should check this map here for more information.

Oklahoma lawmaker Warren Hamilton, not content with attempting to ban transgender minors from accessing care, has decided to refile his legislation to extend the ban from ages 18 and under to to ages 21 and under, for no real reason beyond the fact that he thinks providers of said care are “demonic.” 

Outside of legislative channels, school districts have begun attempting to implement gag orders on mentioning “pronouns” or gender identity or that gay and trans people exist at the level of local policy (in lieu of state-wide Don’t Say Gay or Trans bills). The most prominent this week has been Grapevine-Colleyville (GCISD) in Texas, which narrowly passed such a ban with its newly elected conservative school board. Opposition to the policy seeking to overturn it at the local level is already mobilizing, and can be found here. The Arrowhead Union School District in Wisconsin is also considering such a rule, reminding us that looking at local policy means looking at the level of districts as well as states.