Trans in Tennessee 101

According to Harvard Law Review:

• Physical & social transition through the use of gender-affirming healthcare is clinically shown to reduce dysphoria by aligning a trans person’s physical body & gender presentation with their gender identity.

• Every major U.S .medical association recognizes that gender-affirming healthcare is medically necessary treatment for dysphoria.

• There is a vast disparity in quality of life between trans youth with untreated dysphoria and their cisgender peers, and transition narrows this gap considerably.

• Trans adults who received puberty blockers in childhood had a significantly lower incidence of suicidality than those who wanted it but didn’t get it.

• 20% of trans youth had “moderate to extreme” depressive symptoms.

• Trans youth who received gender-affirming healthcare showed lower anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, and psychological distress.

Gender-affirming care is life-saving for many trans folks. Being able to access crucial healthcare resources , whether it be mental health care or physical interventions, is necessary to increasing the well-being and quality of life for trans and gender-nonconforming folks.

Trans people participate in all aspects of healthcare – not only gender-affirming procedures, but standard medical practices as well. We believe that everyone should have the capacity to support trans patients in all medical fields and think that not being affirmed in these fields can have grave consequences.

Resources

• Tough Conversations with Peppermint: Your Guide to Talking About Attacks on Trans Youth. Learn more about common lies about transgender people and how you can respond to them.

• Being a Good Ally

Even if you can’t show up in person to the Capitol, there are still many ways to get involved in the process and make a difference:

• Lobbying 101. ACLU-TN’s guide to lobbying legislators, as well as a breakdown of how bills become law.

• ACLU-TN’s Legislative Action Center. This webpage describes numerous bills we are monitoring and lobbying, as well as actions you can take on this legislation.

• The ACLU-TN also has a Bill Watchlist to keep track of our priority bills.

• Tips for Effective Communication. The Tennessee General Assembly’s guide for contacting legislators and communicating effectively with them.

The more people that speak out and engage on behalf of trans lives, the less excuses anti-trans legislators have to pass hateful legislation. While slow and incremental, change does happen, even in a state that appears as unaffirming as Tennessee. Consistently staying involved is the best way to ensure sustained change.