In the US, LGBTQ rights are being restricted further. To get appropriate medical treatment, some trans people now have to drive more than eight hours – and that’s just one trip. Why this is alarming.
Transgender or trans is an adjective that refers to a person whose gender identity does not match their sex registered at birth. This includes trans women, trans men, non-binary people and others. Throughout their lives, many trans people experience gender dysphoria – suffering from the fact that their body and gender identity do not match. This strong feeling is to be taken seriously, as it can ultimately lead to depression and suicide. It is therefore crucial to address this issue in order to relieve the suffering of those affected.
Gender-affirming care is a medical necessity. It includes hormone treatments, puberty blockers, social interventions and surgeries that are safe and medically appropriate. When people have access to these treatments, depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts have been shown to decrease.
In 20 states in the US, gender-affirming care for transgender youth is restricted. Since May 2023 several states signed into law a bill that bans hormone treatment, surgery and other gender-affirming care. Florida is strongly affected. Governor Ron DeSantis additionally signed bills that e. g., restrict pronoun use in schools and force students to use toilets corresponding with the sex assigned at birth. Further, Florida prohibits teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, which critics refer to as “Don’t Say Gay”-law.
Republicans argue that school children are too young and should not be allowed to make “hasty decisions”. “We will continue fighting against the rogue elements in the medical establishment that push ideology over evidence,” says a statement from DeSantis’ office. However, regret rates state the contrary – with 1–2 %, the number of people regretting their gender reassignment treatment is quite low.
The bills largely affect trans youth all over the country. In the US, there are 300,000 high school-aged (ages 13–17) transgender youth of which 32.2 % live in states where they have no access to gender-affirming care due to bans. Another 13.2 % are living in states that are considering restricting bills and policies which will deny their access to care.
A new study on how the effects of the ban influence travel time states that 25 % of trans youth aged 10–17 live a day’s drive away from a clinic that provides the treatment they need. Before the restrictions, this was the case for approximately only 2 %.
The study from the University of Michigan Medical School included 271 clinics that offer care to under 18-year-olds. Surgical clinics were not taken into account. They mapped the travel time from the center of every county before and after restrictions in May 2023 and calculated the number of teens living there. State specific estimates of transgender population aged 13–17 from the Williams Institute were used to identify the population affected by bans and restrictions.
Under the new restrictions, people must now travel great distances to access their treatment. With an average of 8.6 hours of travel each way to the nearest available clinic, Florida citizens are the farthest away from gender affirming treatment centers, followed by those in Texas (6.7 hours) and Utah (5 hours). Not everyone is able to overcome the cost and time barriers created by the new bills, resulting in further discrimination.
Due to these laws, many people are not allowed to undergo gender reassignment treatments until they reach adulthood. However, enabling transgender people to get the treatment they need at a young age, will make it easier for them in later years. Additionally, depression and suicide rates among this group could be reduced. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills have been proposed in 2023. As activists say: “Trans rights are human rights” – so why are they being curtailed further?
Image source: Tegan Mierle, unsplash
