• About
  • Contact Us
The Filipino American Post
Advertisement
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • PH News
    • World News
    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Lawyers debate after Court of Appeals invalidates De Lima’s acquittal

    Palace asks Roque to return after arrest warrant is issued

  • Community
  • EVENTS
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Column
    • Legal
    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    Berberine for diabetes

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    Pinapalakas ng California ang Bayad na Mga Benepisyo sa Pag-iwan ng Pamilya at Kapansanan upang Magtala ng Mga Antas para sa Mga Bagong Claim na Naihain noong 2025

    Pinapalakas ng California ang Bayad na Mga Benepisyo sa Pag-iwan ng Pamilya at Kapansanan upang Magtala ng Mga Antas para sa Mga Bagong Claim na Naihain noong 2025

    In recent years, rising inflation has made it harder for many seniors to pay their expenses. This month, we’ll look at programs that can help with the cost of groceries and health care. If your income and resources are limited, you may qualify for assistance from federal and/or state programs.

    In recent years, rising inflation has made it harder for many seniors to pay their expenses. This month, we’ll look at programs that can help with the cost of groceries and health care. If your income and resources are limited, you may qualify for assistance from federal and/or state programs.

    Vital medical tips

    Ginagalang ng California ang Kapangyarihan ng Iyong Boto

    Ginagalang ng California ang Kapangyarihan ng Iyong Boto

    De-stressing

  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Arts & Culture
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Magical Guyabano

    The Magical Guyabano

    What Your Moles Say About You

    What Your Moles Say About You

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

  • Online Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • PH News
    • World News
    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

    Lawyers debate after Court of Appeals invalidates De Lima’s acquittal

    Palace asks Roque to return after arrest warrant is issued

  • Community
  • EVENTS
  • Opinion
    • All
    • Column
    • Legal
    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    NaFFAA Honors Pope Francis a.k.a. Lolo Kiko

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    In this column, we will aim to raise awareness about osteoporosis, highlighting the importance of early screening and timely diagnosis, with a special focus on older women in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

    Berberine for diabetes

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    The two important Medicare enrollment period will end on Mach 31, 2025. Additionally, be sure not to miss the application open period for home energy assistance.

    Pinapalakas ng California ang Bayad na Mga Benepisyo sa Pag-iwan ng Pamilya at Kapansanan upang Magtala ng Mga Antas para sa Mga Bagong Claim na Naihain noong 2025

    Pinapalakas ng California ang Bayad na Mga Benepisyo sa Pag-iwan ng Pamilya at Kapansanan upang Magtala ng Mga Antas para sa Mga Bagong Claim na Naihain noong 2025

    In recent years, rising inflation has made it harder for many seniors to pay their expenses. This month, we’ll look at programs that can help with the cost of groceries and health care. If your income and resources are limited, you may qualify for assistance from federal and/or state programs.

    In recent years, rising inflation has made it harder for many seniors to pay their expenses. This month, we’ll look at programs that can help with the cost of groceries and health care. If your income and resources are limited, you may qualify for assistance from federal and/or state programs.

    Vital medical tips

    Ginagalang ng California ang Kapangyarihan ng Iyong Boto

    Ginagalang ng California ang Kapangyarihan ng Iyong Boto

    De-stressing

  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Arts & Culture
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    It’s a new day for health care and technology

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Colorful Pahiyas Festival

    The Magical Guyabano

    The Magical Guyabano

    What Your Moles Say About You

    What Your Moles Say About You

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

    Flores De Mayo: HONORING MAMA MARY

  • Online Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
The Filipino American Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Community

Gender-affirming care politically polarizes trans rights in San Francisco

by Selen Ozturk
October 3, 2024
in Community
0
Gender-affirming care politically polarizes trans rights in San Francisco

(L-R) Michelle Meow (moderator), Suzanne Ford, Katherine Thompson, Sarah Lentz and Jude Diebold discuss the politicization of gender-affirming care at a Monday, September 23 panel at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club. (Image: Selen Ozturk)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As gender-affirming care grows ever-more politicized, efforts to ensure access have become a question of civil liberties in San Francisco.

Gender-affirming care (GAC) involves a range of social, psychological, behavioral and medical interventions — from counseling and social support to hormone medication and surgery — to support a person when the gender they identify with conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Demystifying ‘Protect the children’

“Politically, ‘protect the children’ comes up time and time again as a scapegoat,” said Doctor of Nursing Sarah Lentz, director of nursing operations at Dignity Health, at a Monday, September 23 panel about GAC as part of a United Against Hate Week summit at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club.

“We start to formulate our identities as early as three months old,” she continued. “But if a six year old told me they identified as a gender other than that they were born with, I’d have the same conversation I would if they said they were a dinosaur, in that they’re exploring themselves at this time. Let them.” 

“But there comes a question of when we take it seriously and intervene or don’t,” Lentz added. “That’s where the controversy lies: What’s right or best for the youth?”

Although data is limited, a UCLA Williams Institute study estimates that nearly 50,000, or around two percent of high school aged Californians (between ages 13 to 17) identify as transgender.

In the US overall, 300,000 youth aged 13 to 17, or 1.4 percent, identify as transgender. Thirty-four point nine percent of them live in one of the 26 states that have passed bans on GAC.

Of the 1.6 million people aged 13 and over who identify as transgender (0.6 percent of the US population), one in five are between the ages of 13 and 17.

Under California law, licensed health insurance plans are prohibited from discriminating against transgender patients; this includes denial of access to GAC to youth when the treatments are “medically necessary.”

California law also forbids the elective sterilization of people under the age of 18 — “So we don’t do that at all,” Lentz said, adding that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health releases standards of care adopted internationally “to increase safety for youth surrounding these health care interventions.”

Ninety-four percent of transgender and non-binary adults report that GAC bans make them feel unsafe, and 52.7 percent are considering moving to a new state due to passed or upcoming GAC bans.

“To me, good healthcare means everything that’s medically possible so that our kids can be who they really are,” said Katherine Thompson, CEO of nonprofit Family House. “I’m a parent of Clementine, a 23-year old graduate student studying to be a therapist in New York City. She started coming out when she was 17 … We have people who turned away, places we can’t go.”

“So much of this hate is based in fear, and I’m trying to understand where the fear comes from, and understand that there’s been fear in myself,” she continued. “The arc of transition is very long. It’s your whole family’s life, and we’re on this journey together. The bad stuff’s out there, and we’re trying to share our stories so everything feels less scary and more normal.”

Expanding protections

“When someone comes with a discrimination complaint, sometimes the other party is malicious, but often there’s just ignorance, and they’re embarrassed not to have known what they did had such an impact,” said Jude Diebold, mediator for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. 

They said the Commission is currently trying to expand the city’s Fair Chance Ordinance — which prohibits employers from asking about arrest or conviction records until after a conditional job offer, and prohibits any consideration of convictions that are non-felony, non-misdemeanor, juvenile, inoperative or for decriminalized conduct like cannabis cultivation — to include “things that are criminal in other states,” like youth GAC access, “which includes being able to use a bathroom or play on a sports team that corresponds to your preferred gender identity.”

Among the 26 states limiting youth access to GAC, five have made it a felony and 17 are facing lawsuits.

“With increasingly creative attacks across the nation to criminalize something so basic to civil liberties as being allowed to be yourself, we’re trying to be creative in expanding those protections,” Diebold said. “If we can’t depend on the Supreme Court to overrule these attacks, we have to bring it back to the city and state level with the hope that it spreads. All we’ve ever had is each other, so we have to bring that work home.”

‘The vehicle for me to live an authentic life’

“I lived a large part of my life as a white male, and I read about other people’s experiences of hate. I went to Howard Law School because I wanted to be involved in the struggle for their civil rights, but I didn’t really feel it,” said Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride.

“Now, most mornings, one of the first news stories I read is about anti-trans legislation. I didn’t understand how debilitating it is to be made to feel like there’s no hope,” she continued. “They say it doesn’t happen here in the Bay Area, but when I came out my family was kicked out of their church in Novato. We’re not in a bubble.”

Anti-transgender hate crimes increased by 40 percent from 2021 to 2022 alone, according to FBI data.

Even as violence overall has begun to drop since then, LGBTQ+ hate continues to spike. 

In 2023, the FBI reported 2,402 incidents relating to sexual orientation, up from 1,947 the year before; and 547 incidents relating to gender identity, up from 469.

In 2023 and in 2022 — which saw the highest number of LGBTQ+ hate crimes in five years — nearly one in five of all hate crimes were motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

“Gender-affirming care was the vehicle for me to live an authentic life. I didn’t know it was possible to ever stand up in a crowd of people as who I really was,” Ford said. “I was so lucky. The best surgeons in the world are in San Francisco. I found mental health care where I didn’t have to defend the dysphoria and hate I was facing … That opened up a new world to me where I wasn’t ashamed and policed about how I present myself anymore.”

“On June 30, we walked down Market Street in San Francisco with over half a million people lined up,” she continued. “In the ‘70s, Walter Cronkite would come on TV and once a year they’d show a picture of the SF Pride Parade, not for you to be like ‘Wow’ but so you’d be upset or shocked, like ‘Look at those terrible people.’ And I sat there as a little kid going, ‘Oh my god, if I could get out there.’”

“When you walk at the front of that parade, you feel that here, we’re not just tolerated. We’re in the fabric of the city,” Ford added. “And big cities in Kentucky or Alabama now are more like San Francisco than they used to be. I think eventually we’re going to win … in living vibrant lives and calling people to join in.”


This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.

ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Harris dominates Trump among Latino and AAPI voters

Next Post

California governor signs Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s Freedom to Read Act 

Related Posts

What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

Despite higher Covid risk, pregnant women are now ineligible for vaccine

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

Over 200 ralliers demand Newsom fund domestic violence victims

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?
Community

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2025 Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards

June 6, 2025
Next Post

California governor signs Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi's Freedom to Read Act 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Recent News

Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos
News

Senate presidency shaping up as a 3-way race among Escudero, Sotto & Marcos

by Beting Lagyo Dolor
June 6, 2025
0

With the next Congress set to start soon, all eyes will be on the Senate which will convene as an...

Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

Go or no go? Impeachment vs. VP Sara hangs in the balance

June 6, 2025
Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

Marcos Cabinet shakeup has few surprises

June 6, 2025
Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

Ex-solon sent back to PH by East Timor to face raps

June 6, 2025
What happens if you help an undocumented immigrant?

Despite higher Covid risk, pregnant women are now ineligible for vaccine

June 6, 2025
The Filipino American Post

© 2025
THE FILIPINO AMERICAN POST

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
    • PH News
    • World News
  • COMMUNITY
  • EVENTS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • SPORTS
  • OPINION
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Business
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Arts & Culture
  • ONLINE NEWSPAPER

© 2025
THE FILIPINO AMERICAN POST