Trans youth and supporters rally at state Capitol
Hundreds of young people chanting, “Trans youth belong!” and carrying pink, white and blue flags joined a march and rally around the Minnesota state Capitol today.
The crowd in St. Paul gathered to celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility and called on state leaders to protect young people seeking gender-affirming care and a safe place in society.
Amid signs that read “PROTECT TRANS KIDS,” and “TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS,” speakers at the rally emphasized how trans people and their supporters have remained resilient despite a history of violence and discrimination. That strength is still intact, they noted, despite the recent slew of state Legislatures introducing and passing anti-trans legislation.
“Trans kids have never been safe,” Jayce Olson, 20, said. “This isn’t new. This isn’t different. We’ve overcome it. We survived. We’re all still here.”
According to a report released Thursday by the Williams Institute, based at the University of California, Los Angeles, nine states — Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona — have enacted legislative bans on gender-affirming care for youth and young adults. Last year, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents whose children are receiving gender-affirming health care, under threat of a foster care removal. Nineteen additional states are considering bills that would deny or further restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth, including criminal penalties against health professionals and parents who enable access to such care.
In light of such laws being enacted, Minnesotans gathered today expressed gratitude that their state has protected its trans youth.
“We are lucky enough to live in a state that is safe, and one of the only ones that is safe in the Midwest right now,” Olson said, adding that they feel like they “dodged a bullet” by reaching adulthood before the legal assaults were enacted.
“I’m here because my friends are trans,” said another attendee, Savannah Berg. “I believe it’s our place to start building up our foundation to have our voices heard from a young age.”
Earlier this month, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) issued an executive order making his state a refuge for trans youth from across the country seeking gender-affirming health care.
The order directs state agencies to protect these young people, their families and their medical practitioners from legal repercussions.
“In this state, hate has no home,” Walz said at the signing ceremony. “In this state, love and acceptance is what we preach.”
Gender-affirming care for youth is an array of health care services that can include counseling, support during a social transition, and puberty blockers or hormone therapy. For adults, it may include surgery. Major professional health care associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support gender-affirming care and consider it safe and medically necessary. For young people, it has been shown to improve mental health and decrease suicidal ideation.
Speakers at today’s rally urged passage of Minnesota’s “trans refuge bill,” legislation that would make the governor’s protections state law. The bill, authored by Rep. Leigh Finke, passed the Minnesota House last week and is making its way through the Senate. Gov. Walz has said he will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
In September, California passed a similar bill that aims to protect trans children and their families seeking gender-affirming care from being criminalized or coming under scrutiny by child protective services in their home states.
In St. Paul today, young people who attended the 9 a.m. march and rally later shuffled into the statehouse rotunda for additional speeches.
Finke, Minnesota’s first openly trans lawmaker, highlighted numerous successes for trans people in her state, including the election of a record 11 queer legislators, the formation of the first queer caucus in the Minnesota House, and that chamber’s passage of the “trans refuge bill.” Finke said she is optimistic the Senate will also vote in favor.
“But if we zoom out only a small amount, the image of our success changes,” she added. “At a shocking rate, in a terrifying number of states, our rights are being decimated. Among the most horrific attacks, trans kids are losing health care. Trans teenagers and young adults are being forcibly de-transitioned.”
Today’s rally brought out organizations opposing the increase in anti-trans legislation across the country. The event’s organizers came from several local community organizations, including Outfront Minnesota, Gender Justice, QUEERSPACE Collective and Transforming Families.
“I am here because I’m trans,” said 17-year-old Ace Austin, who attended the rally from Henderson, an hour south of the Twin Cities, with a group of friends from his high school, the Minnesota New Country School. “I am very happy that Minnesota is a safe state for people like me.”
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