Rally for transgender health care rights set for Sunday afternoon
Organizers will demand continued federal protections for transgender people.
Supporters of transgender rights will stage a rally in Boston to advocate for continued federal protections for transgender people who need health care.
Protect Trans Health is behind Sunday afternoon’s event, to be held at 2 p.m. on Boston Common, near the Robert Gould Shaw memorial. It was previously scheduled to be held in City Hall Plaza but shifted due to a “conflict,” according to the group’s Facebook page.
Organizers, advocates, and activists are protesting a proposal by the Trump administration to undermine the Health Care Rights Law. Established during the Obama administration, that policy was intended to help transgender people access health care without facing discrimination from providers and insurers.
The Health and Human Services Department’s current proposal in effect says that gender identity is not protected under federal laws that prohibit sex discrimination in health care; activists with Protect Trans Health charge that the proposal would make discrimination against transgender people legal.
The revision was proposed on June 14, with a 60-day public comment period — which ends on August 13. Sunday’s rally falls 16 days before the end of the public comment period.
“Because this is a notice of proposed rule-making, Health and Human Services must review and consider public comments that are submitted prior to finalizing the regulations,” according to the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation website.
Comments are generally submitted via the Federal Government’s electronic docket website.
Sunday’s event is sponsored by the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, the ACLU, BDSA, GLAD, and the LGBTQ+ Youth Commission.
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