Vivent Health Denounces Proposed Legislation to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Youth

Vivent Health denounces legislation proposed Wednesday by a set of conservative lawmakers in Wisconsin that would block transgender youth from receiving gender-transition treatment. The bill would bar health care providers from conducting or making referrals for certain medical practices for youth under age 18 “if done for the purpose of changing the minor’s body to correspond to a sex that is discordant with the minor’s biological sex,” according to a summary from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.

Gender-affirming care for transgender individuals is safe and is based on decades of clinical experience and research. This legislation contradicts the broad consensus of medical professionals, including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and American Academy of Pediatrics, the Wisconsin Medical Society and the American Medical Association that have overwhelmingly agreed age-appropriate gender-affirming care is safe, necessary, and life-saving.

“Make no mistake, every time individuals are stigmatized by legislation like this and the repeated, systematic attacks on their identity by lawmakers, they are pushed further away from receiving the life-saving healthcare they need. People – including children with the support of their parents – who enter into gender affirming care do not do so lightly and health care professionals providing this care do so with the best interest of their patients in mind,” says Brandon Hill, President and CEO of Vivent Health, a leading national provider of HIV prevention, care and support based in Wisconsin. “This legislation reinforces the prejudices and injustices that lead to poor health outcomes among our LGBTQ+ community, including significant heightened risk for self-harm and suicide.”