The connection between reproductive care and gender-affirming care has undeniable common ground, hinged on a crumbling and oppressive notion of gender roles.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, people across the country have been steadily stripped of the ability to make decisions about their own bodies and health. Earlier this month, a similar case reached the Supreme Court.
United States v. Skrmetti asserts that transgender youth in Tennessee deserve the same access to health care that cisgender youth already have, and that health care should be determined in partnership with providers, not politicians.
Core to this case is the understanding that the same care currently denied to transgender youth is already available and accessible for cisgender youth. It’s not controversial because cisgender youth don’t challenge rigid gender binaries of male and female the way transness does.
Denying anyone medically necessary care — whether for reproductive health or transgender health — depends on two brazen beliefs:
- That someone else knows what’s better for us, our bodies and our health than we do, and
- That gender roles should not be challenged
Who does it benefit when we, as advocates and as social justice communicators, think we’re fighting two different fights? The sooner we join to advocate for freedom and bodily autonomy for all oppressed people, the better off both movements — and all of us — will be.
Queer youth are joyful rebels
One of the best ways we can reject suffocating systems of gender is by creating affirming spaces for queer youth.
It Gets Better is an organization uplifting, empowering and connecting LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. Together, we conceptualized and launched its latest campaign — the Joy Rebellion. Guided and informed by queer and trans youth and their own voices, this campaign funnels every cent into building spaces for them to feel loved and accepted exactly as they are.
As the team at It Gets Better says, “With legislation targeting our very existence on the rise, LGBTQ+ youth may be facing relentless attacks — but no law, politician or hate can strip them of their joy.”
When did you last need a survival guide?
For our friends in the trans community, Advocates for Trans Equality has created a Trans Legal Survival Guide with ways to best prepare and protect yourself.
For our friends not in the trans community, consider the last time you had to reference a survival guide. Then, channel that into action that will support trans and gender nonconforming people across the country — our friends at the Trans Formation Project offer a few easy places to start.
