Pro-Equality Supporters Donate $100K to Emergency Transgender Health Care Grants
Pro-Equality Supporters Donate $100K to Emergency Transgender Health Care Grants
Community rallies in support as transgender youth and adults in Florida navigate restricted access to healthcare
ST. PETERSBURG -- In a show of solidarity with the transgender community, supporters of equality contributed $100,000 in just 48 hours to the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP). Operating across the South, STYEP is a project of the Campaign For Southern Equality; Florida partners are Equality Florida and Southern Legal Counsel. The project helps transgender people whose access to gender-affirming care has been disrupted by government policies by providing patient navigation support and emergency grants of $500. Contributions came from over 360 people statewide and were bolstered by over $50,000 matching gifts from Equality Florida, The Our Fund Foundation, and The LGBTQ+ Equity Fund.
“Governor DeSantis’ war on medical freedom has created a health care crisis for transgender Floridians,” said Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida Deputy Director. “Thousands of people and families have been stripped of the care they need in service to his political ambitions. But the resistance to his brand of extremism is surging. We are overwhelmed that in just 48 hours, hundreds of people donated a total of $100,000 to help transgender youth and adults access crucial healthcare. Floridians are sending Governor DeSantis a clear message that free states don’t criminalize health care. And we will not stop fighting for all Floridians to have the medical freedom they deserve. We are honored to partner with the Campaign for Southern Equality on this powerful tool to help transgender people continue receiving the lifesaving care they need.”
“Transgender Floridians of all ages have been forced to grapple with a chaotic barrage of policies attacking and complicating access to gender-affirming care,” Allison Scott (she/her), Director of Impact & Innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality, said today. “It is cruel, dangerous, and in violation of recommendations from every leading medical authority to disrupt or disturb trans patients’ healthcare; through this project and with these emergency grants we are honored to be working with Equality Florida and Southern Legal Counsel to create new pathways to care and help Floridians navigate this period of state-sponsored turbulence.”
The Campaign for Southern Equality has already disbursed more than $120,000 in emergency grants across Florida, the state where they are seeing the highest volume of requests for support. The urgent need for resources in Florida is a result of legislative restrictions, which have sought to ban transgender youth from accessing necessary health care and have added onerous obstacles to care for transgender adults; and state agency attacks, which banned Medicaid dollars from being used to provide gender-affirming care to transgender Floridians. These policies are facing legal challenges, with the youth provisions of SB 254 (the Gender Affirming Care Ban) temporarily enjoined and the entire Medicaid Ban policy struck down by federal courts.
Still, the disruption to care has caused widespread harm across the state. In the wake of SB 254’s ban on nurse practitioners prescribing gender affirming medications, an estimated 80% of transgender adult Floridians lost access to their primary provider. And last week, the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy approved new emergency rules and “informed consent” procedures that have made accessing care exceedingly difficult for tens of thousands of patients. All of these hurdles are weighing on the transgender community in Florida, exacerbating mental health challenges and driving many to relocate from the state permanently.
Those interested in requesting support from the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project can visit https://southernequality.org/
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Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Through education, grassroots organizing, coalition building, and lobbying, we are changing Florida so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Based in Asheville, NC, the Campaign for Southern Equality works for full LGBTQ equality across the South. Our work is rooted in commitments to equity in race, gender and class. http://www.southernequality.