National expansion comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider the bans – leaving families in legal limbo and forcing many to travel long distances while navigating a complex, expensive landscape to access care.
ASHEVILLE – Today the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) announced a major expansion of a program that has become a lifeline for the families of transgender youth impacted by the barrage of laws that prohibit or restrict access to transition-related care for minors. Starting today, the Trans Youth Emergency Project (TYEP) will serve families nationwide, in any state with a ban on gender-affirming care, growing the footprint of its rapid response program (previously named the “Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project”) from 15 states to 25 states.
Since launching the project in March 2023, CSE has distributed more than $500,000 in direct emergency grants to 1,000 families and individuals, in close partnership with state organizations in every state with a ban. Click here to view all of our partners.
The Trans Youth Emergency Project is the only project of its scale and scope supporting families of transgender youth impacted by bans on gender-affirming care. The project provides 1-on-1 custom patient navigation services and supports families of transgender youth with emergency grants of $500, renewable every six months, to help them travel out of state for care.
Since 2021, 25 states across the country, concentrated in the South and Midwest, have passed legislation restricting or banning access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth; prior to 2020, no state had advanced a law like this. Click here for a nationwide map of where bans have passed and where they are in effect or on hold pending litigation. An estimated 38% of transgender youth nationwide – and 93% of transgender youth in the South – live in states with a ban.
Politicians in these states have inserted themselves into the private and personal medical decisions that should be exclusively between doctors, trans youth, and their families. This is despite the broad consensus from major medical associations that care like this, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers, constitutes life-saving, best-practice health care.
As a result, families nationwide have been forced to make challenging decisions about how to support their children who depend on this medical care that is now prohibited or inaccessible. Some families have permanently relocated, but many more are staying in their home state, traveling extreme distances and incurring significant expenses.
Allison Scott (she/her pronouns) of the Campaign for Southern Equality said today:
“Southern hospitality is about helping your neighbor and sharing your resources and strategies. Over the past year and a half our team has developed a scalable, impactful project that tangibly supports families of transgender young people. No one should feel helpless in the face of oppressive legislation – and no one should be forced to leave their home state to access healthcare – but as these bans continue to wreak havoc on the lives of so many families, the Trans Youth Emergency Project will be here to help.”
Van Bailey (they/them pronouns), a patient navigator for CSE’s Trans Youth Emergency Project, added:
“Every day I speak with families of transgender youth who are worried about the future. Many are panicking, unsure of where or when they’ll get the medicine that their child needs to continue leading a healthy, happy life. These laws are cruelly thrusting families into impossible choices, and it is deeply unfair. I’m honored that we can provide some measure of relief and support, talking families through their options and reminding them that there’s a whole community behind them, ready to pitch in and help them through this crisis.”
This summer the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in United States v. Skrmetti, a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care. Arguments will likely be heard in the fall of 2024, with a decision expected by the spring or early summer of 2025. In the meantime, families in many states with bans will be forced to travel two to four times a year in order to access their care.
Families of transgender youth in any state with a ban on gender-affirming care can contact the Trans Youth Emergency Project at www.transyouthemergencyproject.org. Supporters can make a donation at www.transyouthemergencyproject.org/supporttransyouth.
