LGTBQ+ groups meet Trump’s attempts to ban gender-affirming health care with lawsuits, community building

President Donald Trump’s efforts to ban gender-affirming health care for people 19 and younger by executive order has so far been blocked by the courts. 

But Trump’s orders have nevertheless disrupted the lives of many transgender people. Nora Huppert, a staff attorney from Lambda Legal, which is fighting Trump’s orders, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that trans youth across the country are losing appointments and being denied gender-affirming health care. 

“Clearly, the intended effect of this threat was to institute an atmosphere of chaos and uncertainty across the country and to coerce medical institutions into canceling appointments,” Huppert said. “It is hard to sit with the pain and the anguish that is purposefully being inflicted on families and 18-year-old adults who are seeking gender-affirming care.”

In his first few days in office, Trump signed several executive orders seeking to restrict and regulate official language, information and medical care related to transgender people. His orders would also block federal funding for any health care providers that provide gender-affirming care to youth. 

The national advocacy group, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG, sued with other groups to block Trump’s ban of gender-affirming health care for anyone under 19. 

As a result of the lawsuit, a federal judge has twice granted temporary blocks of the executive order, most recently through a preliminary injunction. 

Elise Kehle, president of the Washburn-Chequamegon Bay chapter of PFLAG, said the disruption to health care is particularly evident in rural areas and gender-affirming care is scarce. 

“Up here, we actually do have a surprisingly strong and welcoming LGBT community,” Kehle said. “But, we are fairly remote, and most of us get our health care from the same sources. It’s going to be very, very hard on people if [federal funding] is withheld.”

Providing a safe community space

Although Kehle’s PFLAG chapter is not directly involved in the national PFLAG lawsuit, her chapter is trying to counter the effects of Trump’s orders. The most important thing she said her chapter can provide is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and their families to gather.

“In our town, there really aren’t any dedicated gay community centers — or even gay bars,” Kehle said. “I’m particularly proud that we have a community center model, even if it’s only on a part time basis at the moment, because historically, the only option was in bar culture. It’s really helpful that not only do we have a space for LGBT people, but it’s also a sober space.”

The gathering space model is important, Kehle said, because maintaining a strong sense of community helps people deal with the repercussions of government actions against trans people.

“A lot of us grow up thinking that for one reason or another, we are the only one, because there is no one queer homeland, right? We crop up everywhere,” Kehle said. “The most important thing for us to be able to live fulfilling lives is finding each other. Just to be able to build a community of people who experience some of the same things, as well as different things, that can learn from each other.”

Fighting an ‘extremist movement’

Huppert said that Trump’s executive orders are part of a larger effort to isolate specific groups of people. 

“I think there’s very clearly this extremist movement that seeks to divide us,” Huppert said. “It causes us as a larger community to distrust one another, to cast doubt on the needs of our neighbors and our families and to institute a culture of chaos, fear and uncertainty on the part of institutions.”

An example of institutional uncertainty the executive order incites can be seen in a section called “Ending Reliance on Junk Science.” Here, the order refers to the newest version of the “Standards of Care” created by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in 1979. 

The “Standards of Care” document is an international set of peer-reviewed research that ultimately recommends best practices for the management of health care for transgender people. Hundreds of medical professionals have contributed research and recommendations for nearly half a century — but Trump’s executive order says it “lacks scientific integrity.” Here, the executive order states: “agencies shall rescind or amend all policies that rely on WPATH guidance, including WPATH’s ‘Standards of Care Version 8’.” 

Kehle said these executive orders are reminiscent of the destruction of Germany’s Institute for Sexual Science in 1933, in which the Nazi government burned decades of gender-affirming health care research, which was forever lost. 

“It’s hard not to expect the worst,” Kehle said. “But I am really sustained by how wonderful my community is here. There’s still work to do, but I know that at the end of the day, I’m welcome here. I’m all the more committed to building a world where everyone can feel like that.”

Huppert said she agrees that community and connection are paramount right now, because that’s where people can make a difference for others. 

“Top of my mind is how important it is to resist the culture of fear and uncertainty that this extremist anti-trans movement is trying to institute across the country,” Huppert said. “It’s so important for us as a larger community, as a country, to voice our opposition to extremist anti-trans programs and movements and to place our faith in one another and our neighbors, and not let politicians and extreme activists divide us and convince us to doubt each other.”