The Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence is taking part in a meeting with a U.S. health official this week to discuss ways to make the state safer against gender-based violence.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary of Health, Admiral Rachel Levine, will be in Boise on Friday for a roundtable as the state legislative session gets underway.
Idaho lawmakers have restricted rights for transgender and gender-expansive people in recent sessions, including a bill passed last year banning gender-affirming care for young people. Levine called it a concerning development.
“Like all Americans, transgender people need to be able to access care from their health care providers for any health challenge or any condition,” Levine explained. “As well as primary care and preventative care, but also gender-affirming care, and that’s youth and adults.”
Idaho is one of 22 states to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Levine is touring the country to assess the mental and behavioral health of members of LGBTQIA+ communities. She is the first openly transgender official confirmed to an executive branch position.
Levine emphasized restricting health care for transgender people is harmful and unscientific.
“There is certainly a compelling body of evidence established over a number of decades that transgender medicine is standard-of-care medicine,” Levine pointed out. “Transgender medicine is physical health care, but it is also mental health care and in circumstances, it’s literally suicide prevention care.”
A host of attendees will be at the meeting, including representatives from the ACLU, City of Boise, health organizations and local churches.
