April, 09 2021, 12:00am EDT
UltraViolet Joins List of 110 Organizations Opposing Anti-Transgender State Legislation
Broad coalition asks lawmakers in dozens of states to reject bills seeking to ban transgender youth from school sports and from accessing medical care
WASHINGTON
Today, 110 civil rights and legal groups, organizations for women and girls, medical associations, and proponents of equality for all Americans issued a joint letter opposing harmful anti-transgender bills at the state level. Among them is UltraViolet, one of the nation's leading women's advocacy organizations.
VIEW THE FULL LETTER HERE: https://freedomforallamericans.org/joint-statement-opposing-state-legislation-targeting-transgender-youth/.
"We stand behind the transgender community and will continue to fight together against these hateful and unwarranted attacks on trans children," said Kathy Plate, director of growth and member experience at UltraViolet. "The pending bills proposed in dozens of states across the nation seek to punish and exclude children for being themselves. This cannot be understated. No transgender child should be banned from playing on school sports teams with their friends, or from accessing basic and best practice medical care endorsed by virtually all medical associations.
"Trans youth already face higher rates of depression, suicide and homelessness. If passed, these bills would have an even more cruel and devastating impact on future generations. We won't allow the right-wing extremists who wrote these bills to hide beneath the guise of 'protecting' women and girls to justify transphobia.
"We urge state lawmakers to learn more on the science of trans healthcare, to acquaint themselves with their transgender constitutents and reject these malicious pieces of legislation."
The letter reads in part:
It is unconscionable that in many states, lawmakers are proposing and passing a wave of dangerous bills that seek to ban transgender youth from participating on K-12 school sports teams and/or from being able to access best practice medical care. ... Transgender kids want the opportunity to play sports for the same reason other kids do: to be a part of a team where they feel like they belong.
Additionally, proposals that seek to ban transgender youth under the age of 18 from receiving best-practice medical care are some of the most extreme attacks on transgender people in recent memory. These bills would criminalize best practice medical care that is backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and other leading health authorities. State politicians should focus on what matters -- containing the pandemic, increasing vaccinations, bolstering the economy, and helping families--rather than targeting transgender youth for harm.
UltraViolet is a powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture.
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