In January, President Donald Trump and his cabinet introduced an executive order that aims to cut federal funding for gender-affirming care for people under age 19. Gender-affirming care is a type of primary care medicine, and research shows that it saves lives. Cutting or limiting funding on a type of primary care that shouldn’t be politicized will have dangerous – if not deadly – results.
According to their website, Transhealth is the only independent nonprofit organization in the United States that is specifically and solely dedicated to serving the transgender community.
Medical professionals at Transhealth provide a variety of services, including “primary care, mental health care … education,” and “advocacy to support trans rights.”
The issue? There aren’t nearly enough medical professionals in the field of gender-affirming care.
Mel DeSilva, the director of development and communications at Transhealth, has been working with the organization for over two years.
“There aren’t enough providers in Massachusetts or anywhere who understand how to take care of trans and gender-diverse people,” DeSilva said. “It’s really common for trans and gender-diverse people to … not go to the doctor at all because they’re afraid they’re going to be treated badly.”
This fear didn’t come from nowhere. Thirty-four states don’t have laws protecting gender-affirming care, a statistic that makes it much scarier to go to the doctor’s office.
So, what does Trump’s executive order mean? Will it strip back protections for all 50 states?
DeSilva said that “executive orders are statements of intent,” and that “for us … in Massachusetts, the right to gender-affirming care is in the state constitution.” Notably, though, accessible and legal are different terms.
That said, many healthcare workers are starting to fight back. Cindy Hildebrand is a resource nurse who provides gender-affirming care at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has been doing so for over 10 years.
Hildebrand corroborated what DeSilva noted about laws in Massachusetts that protect the right to gender-affirming care. These laws, called shield laws, protect both providers and patients physically present in the state of Massachusetts who help provide – or access, in the case of patients – gender-affirming care.
The question remains though: is this enough? Hildebrand explained that even though folks are “in a good place” in Massachusetts, a small percentage of the U.S., the fear of the executive order hasn’t gone away.
“It’s been the worry,” Hildebrand explained when asked about how her work has been impacted by the Trump administration. “It [the news] just keeps coming.”
Hildebrand also raised the question of what happens to those shield laws when patients leave Massachusetts. Although, according to her, Massachusetts “feels a little bit like a haven,” the uncertainty of obtaining needed prescriptions – especially for those in more conservative states – is beyond stressful. According to CNN, 26 states have banned gender-affirming care for teenagers and children.
When asked about what she would say to someone who may be transgender or gender-diverse and is feeling hopeless under the new administration,
Hildebrand said that, even though people may feel despair at this point, “you’re not abandoned.”
People “really do care” about the safety of transgender folks, even if those people are overshadowed by the conservative Cybertruck enjoyers. She also stressed that she wants to be as supportive of the transgender community as she can be.
DeSilva added on to this: “What I would say to these young people – and to all trans and gender-diverse people of any age – is we need to keep fighting, we cannot back down and we must hold each other in community.”
“Community is so essential at this moment in time. And we also need to have joy. Joy is resistance.”
DeSilva also said that transgender people cannot be erased, something that I, as a transgender person, resonate with.
“You know, regardless of what Donald Trump and the federal government does … trans people aren’t going anywhere,” DeSilva said. “Trans people have always existed. Trans people will continue to exist. Trans people are resilient. We will keep fighting for our right to be our authentic selves.”
Times are tough right now, but you aren’t completely alone. Even if it seems like you have been abandoned, transgender folks are everywhere, and we will continue to be.
Joy is resistance, and resistance brings joy, so savor what brings you happiness. Remember that you alone define who you are: not some law, or some fanboy or a man in a MAGA hat.
Addy Damish can be reached at [email protected].
