Welcome to my portfolio! I am a 17-year-old high school student at GCE lab school. In this school, we have a class called Policy, where we learn about policy within the government, war, and historical events. We've been reading the book "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, and we even went to the veteran's art museum to learn more about the Vietnam War and the policies within it. In our first Unit, we learned about the legislative branch as well as the way they handled different situations. We also learned a lot about Congress and about the process for a bill to become a law. For our Action Project, we wrote each wrote a letter to a senator representing us, arguing for or against a pending legislation of our choice. I chose to write to Senator Don Harmond, about the "Gender-Affirming Healthcare Protection Act". I hope you enjoy reading my letter!
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| Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0), Ted Eytan, 2020 |
Letter:
NM
9 W Washington
Chicago IL 60602
Nmulcahy@gcelabschool.org
May 23rd, 2023
Senator 39th District
309 G Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Dear Senator Don Harmond,
Would you want to deny your children or your friend’s children the right to receive healthcare when they need it? If you do not support this bill, we will continue to go down the path of preventing the humans in this world from getting simple and essential human rights, due to hate and discrimination. I am writing to you today about the “Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act”, Senate Bill 1283. This act ensures that the state cannot by any means abuse its power by attempting to prohibit, punish, or penalize any person for providing, authorizing, aiding, assisting, receiving, or otherwise allowing a child to receive gender-affirming care (or referring a child for such care). This act is a major step toward abolishing the discrimination and resistance surrounding gender-related healthcare. This includes the banning of abortions, the discrimination towards people part of the LGBTQ+ community by refusing healthcare, the refusal to give gender-affirming healthcare to transgender individuals, etc.
Now since this bill is specifically for transgender people looking to receive gender-affirming healthcare, you may think that it wouldn’t affect that much of the population. But 0.6% of the US population is outwardly transgender with many more who fear to openly show this part of their identity. By assuming the same percentage (0.6%) applies to Chicago’s population, we can deduce that there are over 16,000 confirmed trans people in Chicago. This is a very large amount of people that are outwardly trans, but due to discrimination and surrounding hatred, it is undeniable that there are many more transgender people that are not out. These trans people as well as their supporting family, friends, or other community members, care about and are affected by these laws around healthcare for transgender individuals.
There are many people who are homophobic and discriminatory toward trans people and the LGBTQ+ community, but there is also a lot of support for and within the community itself. I’ll tell you my story. I am not transgender, but I am a 17-year-old high school student that is a part of the LGBTQ+ community. The LGBTQ+ community is very important to me and has been for a long time. Throughout my middle and high school years, I’ve tried my best to help the LGBTQ+ community (including myself) love, accept, and express themselves. Two of my closest friends are transgender. One who I have known since I was only 9 years old in 3rd grade. I played a big role in helping him accept himself as queer and trans. This was in middle school when we were the closest, we spent every passing moment together. We were each other's best friends and biggest supporters. Seeing him have to deal with school bullies, dysphoria, and body hatred was absolutely heart-wrenching for me as his best friend. Accepting himself as queer let alone transgender was a very difficult process for him, and during those times, I was the person that was there for him the most. Now he is currently trying to get access to testosterone, but unfortunately, it is a long and arduous process to get that access considering his age (17). This is one of the reasons why this bill needs to pass.
For transgender people, getting gender-affirming health care isn’t just about how they look. According to a CAP analysis of 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, 60% of transgender adults report having poor mental health at least one day in the past month compared with 37% of cisgender adults. There are many factors contributing to this. Consider the hatred and discrimination that the world throws at the LGBTQ+ community, the hatred that they may receive from family members and unsupportive people in their lives, and of course the self-hatred and gender dysphoria that they may have. Gender dysphoria is something every trans person has experienced in their lives. It is the unhappiness with one's own body, the feeling that their gender identity and the sex they were assigned at birth are conflicting. Transgender people that haven’t transitioned often feel gender dysphoria when they look in the mirror. For example, a transgender girl might look in the mirror and see what looks like a boy, when really they feel like a girl. This causes them to feel “uncomfortable in their own skin”, leading them to hate their own body. This is why gender-affirming care is important. For the people that feel they need it, gender-affirming care can be incredibly life-changing. I know for a fact how much of a positive impact gender-affirming care can have on someone. My cousin, who is only a year older than me, received top surgery about 11 months ago. He has also been taking testosterone for a while now, and it has had incredible results. My sister and I still see him often, and the gender-affirming care has made him more confident in himself, and his mental health has improved drastically.
Allowing access to gender-affirming healthcare for teenagers is very important, because according to Williams Institute’s estimates, transgender prevalence among adults is highest in the 18-24 age group (0.7%), compared to the 25-64 age group (0.6%), and to 65+ age group (0.5%). Higher percentages of trans people are found in younger generations, which means it is also more common for the younger generations to have mental health issues such as depression due to dysphoria and body hatred. This means that more of the younger generation feel the need for gender-affirming care. It is important to note that not every trans person under 18 feels the need to receive gender-affirming care at their age, but for those who do, it is an essential step in order for them to maintain good mental health and feel comfortable in their own body. Many young trans people are suffering from even the thought of themselves, and they need all the support they can get in order to receive gender-affirming care. Additionally, If this bill is passed, the number of people that are willing to help the trans community will increase. It would also lessen the amount of fear that trans and trans supporters have around providing, authorizing, aiding, assisting, or receiving gender-affirming care, and it would overall decrease the percentage of mental health issues in the younger generations.
As was estimated earlier there are about 16,000 confirmed trans people in the city of Chicago, with thousands more not included in the estimate. Passing this bill will not only ensure their safety and health but will ensure that anyone helping them will be entitled to the same protection. It will create environments where they can thrive with the help of their community and live in the comfort of their true identities. They will no longer have to battle against laws that complicate or fully prevent the transitions into their true identities. Together, with your help, we can pass this bill to help create a city, a state, and a world where people are able to completely express themselves without any damaging barriers. A world where there is the freedom to support our loved ones who are seeking this life-changing health care. A world of freedom where the protection of the law envelopes all individuals. That is a world worth fighting for. This is why, Senator Don Hammond, I ask you for help in passing the “Gender-Affirming Health Care Protection Act”, Senate Bill 1283.
With Sincerity & Gratefulness,
NM
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| "LetterSent", NM, 2023 |
I was even able to print my letter and physically send it to my senator! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my letter, and I hope you liked it!
Citations:
“Illinois General Assembly - Senator Biography.” Ilga.gov, 2022, www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?GA=103&MemberID=3029. Accessed 21 May 2023.
“Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for SB1283.” Ilga.gov, 2023, www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1283&GAID=17&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=145531&SessionID=112&GA=103#. Accessed 21 May 2023.
“Caucus News.” Illinoissenatedemocrats.com, 19 May 2023, www.illinoissenatedemocrats.com/caucus-news/48-senator-don-harmon-news. Accessed 21 May 2023.
Meerwijk, Esther L, and Jae Sevelius. Transgender Population Size in the United States: A Meta-Regression of Population-Based Probability Samples. Vol. 107, no. 2, 11 Jan. 2017, pp. e1–e8, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5227946/, https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2016.303578. Accessed 21 May 2023.
Shanee Simhoni. “Fact Sheet: Protecting and Advancing Health Care for Transgender Adult Communities.” Center for American Progress, Center for American Progress, 25 Aug. 2021, www.americanprogress.org/article/fact-sheet-protecting-advancing-health-care-transgender-adult-communities/. Accessed 21 May 2023.
“Press-Release.” Illinois.gov, 2022, www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.25906.html#:~:text=The%20act%20takes%20major%20steps,well%20as%20for%20birth%20control. Accessed 21 May 2023.
“Find My Elected Officials.” Il.gov, 2023, elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx. Accessed 21 May 2023.
Nolan, Ian T, et al. Demographic and Temporal Trends in Transgender Identities and Gender Confirming Surgery. Vol. 8, no. 3, 1 June 2019, pp. 184–190, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6626314/, https://doi.org/10.21037/tau.2019.04.09. Accessed 22 May 2023.
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