The government’s Medicaid program will start covering gender-affirming care for low-income transgender individuals in Maryland starting on January 1.
Sam Williamson, a founding member of the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition, told The Baltimore Sun that this is a cause for celebration for the country’s LGBTQ+ community, “especially at this time when we’ve seen this conscious effort to attack transgender rights and many other rights across the country.”
Williamson uses they/them pronouns as a team counsel for Maryland’s Disability Rights Office. They said in a telephone interview in early December that “it’s truly great to know that transgender individuals using Medicaid in Maryland will be able to get the care they need to survive and thrive,” despite acknowledging that more needs to be done to secure legal privileges for Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community.
The Maryland Medical Assistance Program will not be allowed to exclude certain procedures on the grounds that they are cosmetic or to deny gender-affirming treatment based on an individual’s gender identity.
The Maryland Medical Assistance Program, which is funded by the state, pays for low-income people’s healthcare needs with both state and federal resources.
According to the Trans Health Equity Act, Maryland’s Medicaid system must provide adult patients with any gender-affirming medical care that is medically necessary or prescribed by a doctor to treat conditions relating to their patient(s’) gender identity. Among other treatments that match a person’s body or physical presence with their gender identity or lessen the stress brought on by gender dysphoria, these include hormone therapy, puberty blockers, hair modification, voice therapy, surgical changes to their face, neck, chest, abdomen, genitalia, and buttocks.
Maryland is now one of 26 states whose Medicaid programs must include gender-affirming healthcare, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a volunteer think tank aimed at promoting equitable policies. Insurance discrimination based on a child’s gender identity has also been outlawed in Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
The Trans Health Equity Act may improve mental health outcomes in the LGBTQ+ community in addition to giving residents access to necessary healthcare.
Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore cited a 2020 study in an email to The Baltimore Sun that found nine out of ten transgender people who did not have access to gender-affirming treatment as adolescents but wanted it had suicidal thoughts.
The Trans Health Equity Act’s implementation, according to Adrienne Breidenstine, vice president of policy and communications at Behavioral Health Systems Baltimore, “may help reduce discrimination and provide much-needed healthcare for so many in our community.”
The impending full implementation of the Trans Health Equity Act was described as “revolutionary and lifesaving” by Kevin Lindamood, president and CEO of Health Care for the Homeless, a group that connects poor people with essential care services.
People who are Medicaid-eligible, according to Lindamood, are “already at increased risk of poverty.”
“Transgender people are more vulnerable to violence, illness, and early death on the streets or in fragile transient arrangements. Having access to gender-affirming care is essential for maintaining stability as well as preventing and ending homelessness. We applaud the nonbinary and transgender community, particularly the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition (TRAC), which led a multiyear advocacy campaign, frequently at great personal cost, the legislative leaders who supported the bill’s passage, and the governor who, recognizing the humanity of all Marylanders, signed it into law.”
Democrat Governor Wes Moore backed the Trans Health Equity Act, promising to sign it into law before the close of the 2023 legislative session.
Trans rights both inside and outside of Maryland have been promoted by the governor.
This summer, during a Pride Month reception at the governor’s mansion, Moore issued an executive order to protect Maryland from legal repercussions for gender-affirming healthcare and to prevent those who seek it from doing so in other states. This action effectively helped the transgender community find safety in Maryland.
The 2024 legislative session, which starts on January 10, may be pushed, according to Williamson, to define Moore’s executive order. They claimed that the legislation passed in 2023 that forbids state officials from aiding other states’ criminal investigations and legal actions against people and providers involved in pregnancy care will be largely modeled after this one.
The founding executive director of Trans Maryland, Lee Blinder, recalled spending this week’s Transgender Day of Visibility in Annapolis with Moore, Lt. Gov. Susan C. Lee, the secretary of state, and Aruna Miller listening as transgender individuals discussed their personal experiences and political ideas.
Additionally, Blinder was the first trans person to assist Maryland’s general transition team. They participated in Moore’s Committee for Unlocking Opportunity, which, among other things, assisted the Moore-Miller administration in formulating strategies for historically underrepresented groups’ best support.
Blinder has been collaborating with other transgender and LGBTQ+ organizers in Annapolis for a number of years. They even use they/them pronouns. A 2019 bill requiring the Motor Vehicle Administration to permit applicants for driver’s licenses, state-
issued identification cards, or permits to operate a moped to choose “X” as their gender option rather than “M” or “F” for male or female was their first legislative victory.
This was the next time the bill had made it through the legislature after generally passing along party lines. It was passed without the erstwhile Republican governor’s name, Larry Hogan.
Although the law was passed, the deployment took time and, in Blinder’s opinion, tended to take place one firm at a time.
Because they were unable to select the “X” marker for their gender on the application, Blinder claimed that it took them several tries to apply to the state’s Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, which they currently serve on. To ensure that citizens can correctly identify themselves at the elections, they have also collaborated with the Maryland State Board of Elections.
One of the key groups supporting the Trans Health Equity Act was Trans Maryland’s Lee Blinder. On January 1, 2024, the part of the law that may require Maryland Medicaid to cover gender-affirming care goes into effect. (Staff photo by Lloyd Fox)
Blinder claims that Moore played a crucial role in the Trans Health Equity Act’s section and passage into law.
The governor passed a bill in 2020 that forbade health professionals and facilities from treating patients unfairly for their external traits, such as their race, color, religion, gender, age, national origins, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or health status. This legislation was cut short by the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Without Hogan’s approval, that bill was passed.
Prior to the legislature’s amendment of the description in 2021—the same year that a law was passed that eliminated the possibility of identifying an immutable trait, such as gender identity or sexual orientation, as an effective line of defense for assault and murder—gender identity was not considered to be protected in Maryland. Hogan did not sign either legislation.
The government established that public schools and private universities that receive state money cannot discriminate against individuals or their families because they are members of a protected class in 2022 and established the procedure for people to change their name on their wedding certificates. These were also passed without Hogan’s approval.
Despite Maryland’s abundance of Democratic politicians, according to Blinder, there are frequently politicians who have no knowledge of sex beyond the binary.
Most people learn about gender early in life from their parents or teachers, but teaching adults about a third category of people, which could make them uneasy because it’s an unfamiliar concept, or which forces them to confront their connection to their own gender, can be challenging. This is especially true when they’re hearing bills.
Sporting glitter-covered pins with the transgender flag’s colors emblazoned on them, Blinder claimed that they and their coworkers have stood in committee rooms full of adults who are perplexed by the idea of leading a life beyond that of an adult.
They must be taught by someone.
Often, Blinder chuckled, “It’s me.”
