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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMinnesota's Governor Just Made the State a Refuge for Gender-Affirming Care
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed an executive order to make the state a refuge for trans people who flee their homes in order to seek lifesaving transition-related care.
The governor signed Executive Order 23-03 on Wednesday. It orders state agencies to protect people seeking gender-affirming healthcare in Minnesota, as well as the entities that provide it. State agencies are also specifically forbidden from providing information or assisting investigations to penalize trans people and their allies for seeking transition-related care. Judgments from other states that terminate parental rights because the parent provided their child with transition-related care will not be recognized by the state of Minnesota, and the state will also refuse to comply with subpoenas that seek information about trans people who travel to Minnesota to obtain care.
Additionally, the executive order tasks the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) with preparing a report that summarizes the literature on the safety and effectiveness of gender-affirming care, to be presented to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Legislature by the end of the year. The order also strengthens protections for insurance coverage of transition-related care and mandates MDH to refuse to approve HMO contracts that discriminate against people on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Noting that other states have curtailed access to, or even criminalized transition-related care, Walzs executive order recognizes that these actions pose a grave threat to the health of LGBTQIA+ individuals by preventing them from affirming their gender identities through safe and scientifically proven treatments.
https://www.them.us/story/minnesota-refuge-gender-affirming-care
Beetwasher.
(2,967 posts)n/t
lindalou65
(253 posts)Thank you Governor Walz!!