Trans Patients Face Discrimination From Their Health Care Providers: Poll

The Washington Post: For Trans People, Medical Visits Can Be More Traumatizing Than Healing
One trans woman recalled a doctor calling her “it.” A nonbinary person was grilled about their use of “they/them” pronouns during an ultrasound. A trans-masculine person moved out of Tennessee, fearing they would lose access to hormone therapy as legislators passed bills restricting gender-affirming care. Transgender Americans often face subtle discrimination, outright hostility and ill-informed medical professionals in their interactions with the health-care system, according to a poll by The Washington Post and KFF, a nonprofit focused on national health issues. (Nirappil, 5/24)

The Washington Post: Trans Kids Crave Acceptance At School In A Nation That Often Resists It 
Rowan Johnson learned what it meant to be transgender not from a parent or a teacher, but from Jerry Springer. Home from school one day when they were about 8 years old, Johnson caught Springer’s often-raucous daytime talk show. “There are girls here to tell their parents they want to be boys,” Johnson recalls hearing at the top of the hour. (Meckler, 5/24)

The Washington Post: 6 Takeaways From The Washington Post-KFF Survey Of Transgender Americans 
Since January, state legislators have introduced more than 200 bills that seek to limit transgender rights, whether it is access to gender-affirming care, what children can learn about transgender identity in schools or whether trans girls can play sports. In this atmosphere of intense polarization around transgender rights, The Washington Post and KFF set out to hear what transgender Americans had to say, on topics ranging from their experiences as children in school to navigating the workplace, the doctor’s office and family relationships as adults. The resulting Post-KFF Trans Survey, which also includes responses from cisgender Americans on trans-related restrictions, is the largest nongovernmental survey of U.S. trans adults to rely on random sampling methods. (Shin, 5/23)

On states' efforts to block transgender care —

AP: Republican-Controlled Committee Rejects Louisiana Bill To Ban Gender-Affirming Care For Minors 
Bucking the trend of other reliably red states adopting restrictions on young transgender people, a Republican-controlled Louisiana legislative committee voted Wednesday to a kill a bill that would have banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Proponents of Louisiana’s failed bill, which would have prohibited hormone treatments, gender-affirming surgery or puberty-blocking drugs for any transgender minor, say they fear that the state could draw minors from surrounding states — where there are bans — seeking gender-affirming health care. Those in Louisiana’s LGBTQ+ community say gender-affirming care in the state is not as easily accessible as conservatives make it seem. (Cline, 5/24)

Health News Florida: Pediatricians Battling Florida House's Subpoena Over Trans Care Standards
A statewide pediatricians association is pushing back in federal court against the Florida House’s efforts to obtain internal communications showing how the group adopted standards of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria. House Health & Human Services Chairman Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, issued subpoenas last month, amid efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislative leaders efforts to wipe out gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical procedures for minors. (Kam, 5/24)

Houston Chronicle: CEO: Texas Children's To Discontinue Trans Care In Coming Months
Texas Children’s Hospital will discontinue hormone therapy and other transgender care, or help patients find care outside the state, before state legislation banning such treatment for children potentially goes into effect Sept. 1, according to an email sent Wednesday to hospital faculty and staff. "We will work with patients and their families to manage the discontinuation of hormone therapies, or source appropriate care outside of Texas,"  hospital system CEO Mark Wallace said in the email. (Gill, 5/24)

St. Louis Public Radio: Transgender Missourians Fear More Gender Care Restrictions Coming
Missouri lawmakers recently joined a number of other GOP-dominated states in limiting gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and while some Republican legislators say they’re not interested in adult restrictions, trans community members remain on guard. When asked if adult restrictions are next up for the Missouri legislature, state Rep. Bill Hardwick, R-Pulaski County, said, “Part of freedom is you make decisions I don’t like.” (Rosenbaum, 5/25)

The Colorado Sun: Most LGBTQ Educators In Colorado Don’t Feel Safe To Come Out At School As National Debates Threaten Gay And Transgender Rights
Klaudia Neufeld has had to dodge a truck trying to run them off the road, been physically assaulted, continually endured harassment and constantly felt the scrutiny and gaze of straight white men, including in the Adams 12 Five Star Schools building where Neufeld works. The onslaught of violence and criticism has empowered Neufeld, who is transgender and nonbinary and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, more than it has dampened their sense of self. (Breunlin, 5/25)

KFF Health News: A Trans Teen No Longer Feels Welcome In Florida. So She Left
Josie had put off packing long enough. The high school sophomore in St. Augustine, Florida, sat on her bed while her mom, Sarah, pulled clothes from her closet. It held a trove of good memories — like the red dress Josie wore to the winter homecoming dance and a pink cover-up she sported at a friend’s pool party. Good times like these have felt scarce lately. Josie, who’s transgender, no longer feels welcome in Florida. ... Josie moved more than a thousand miles from St. Augustine — and her parents — to start a new life in Rhode Island and stay with her aunt and uncle, who live outside Providence. (Colombini, 5/25)

Also —

The New York Times: For One Group Of Teenagers, Social Media Seems A Clear Net Benefit 
The surgeon general’s warning Tuesday about social media’s “profound risk of harm” to young people included a significant qualification. For some of them, the warning said, social media can be beneficial to health in important ways. For one group in particular — the growing share of young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer — social media can be a lifeline, researchers and teenagers say. Especially for those growing up in unwelcoming families or communities, social media often provides a sense of identity and belonging at a crucial age, much earlier than for many L.G.B.T.Q. people in previous generations. (Miller, 5/24)