Sitting right up front in the busy room is the Starks family — husbands Taylor and Grover with their baby daughter Hazel.
Taylor said he’s attending because his husband is transgender.
“I think that the way that things in this country are growing — it's looking more and more like we would move out of Evansville,” he said. “There's no kind of guaranteed protection.”
By “protection” he means a measure protecting gender-affirming care.
As defined by the World Health Organization, Gender-affirming care encompasses a range of social, psychological, behavioral and medical interventions “designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity” when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.
It can include hormone therapy, or hormone blockers, and surgery. According to Harvard Public Health Magazine, it has been endorsed by every major medical association in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, and the Endocrine Society.
The proposed resolution didn’t receive enough sponsors to be brought to first reading, but the Monday Evansville City Council meeting space was packed, as members of the trans community, supporters and detractors attended to urge the City council to sponsor a pro-transgender resolution — or not sponsor a resolution.
Council member Mary Allen says she’s committed to making individuals feel safe, valued and supported.
“That commitment may not look like a resolution, as there is not a resolution on the table, as councilor Trockman alluded to …”
She added that resolutions have no binding authority. The City of Bloomington pass a resolution supporting gender affirming care in 2024.
Group Trans and Queer Hope proposed the resolution in Evansville which didn’t reach the agenda. Founding member Charlotte Morrison said she’s experiencing attacks on her rights.
“Legislatively speaking, around 800 some odd bills across 50 states this year alone. So And honestly, it's my life. I just want to live it. You know?”
Of the 821 bills, 720 are still active, according to translegislation.com. So far, 42 have passed and 43 have failed.
There were 19 public comments. Most were in support of the trans community. Many speakers were trans themselves, sharing personal experience and also the benefits of the trans community. Several helped define what gender affirming care is.
Four comments were against gender affirming care, or gender affirming care resolution. Theresa Finn feels most of the community would be against such a resolution.
“I do know that most people in this town and area, including Christians, love all people,” she said. “But that does not mean that we want such a thing as this.”
Others suggested taxpayer funds should not pay for medication or surgery related to transgender care.
Trans speaker Ashley Reister (pronouns they/them) pointed out that they paid for their procedures out of pocket. "Gender affirming care gave me the ability to live fully, not just survive," Reister said. "It allowed me to wake up each day and recognize myself in the mirror."
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