老澳门开奖结果

ATLANTA 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 today filed a lawsuit on behalf of two transgender women who have been denied access to gender-affirming care under Georgia Medicaid. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Shon Thomas and Gwendolyn Cheney claims that Georgia鈥檚 ban on gender-affirming surgeries violates the U.S. Constitution, the Affordable Care Act, and the Medicaid Act.

鈥淢s. Thomas and Ms. Cheney have each been denied health care because of Georgia鈥檚 unconstitutional and unlawful ban on gender-affirming care for transgender people,鈥� said Taylor Brown, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 LGBTQ & HIV Project. 鈥淚f they were not transgender, Georgia Medicaid would cover the procedures they seek. This is discrimination and it is against the law. At a time when many in our country are having long overdue conversations about racial disparities in our health care system, it is important that the health care needs of Black transgender people, like Ms. Thomas and Ms. Cheney, are a part of that conversation.鈥�

Georgia is one of 10 states that bans transgender adults from receiving gender-affirming care under Medicaid. Approximately 5,000 transgender Georgians are on Medicaid. Black and transgender people use Medicaid at rates higher than the general population.

Thomas, 45, and Cheney, 60, each live in the greater Atlanta area. While both have known they are women from a young age, each has had inconsistent access to health insurance and struggled to find medical providers who have experience working with transgender people.

鈥淥ftentimes I have felt like giving up because I do not feel complete,鈥� said Cheney. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like who I know I am. It has stopped me from living a full life. My life has not been a free one, it has been hard and difficult. I don鈥檛 want to just exist. I want to live. I want to be out in the world and be accepted. Having access to this care would give me a chance to actually live as who I am. I want to be all that I can be and I can鈥檛 be that with gender dysphoria. It鈥檚 a chance to have a normal life without depression and anxiety.鈥�

鈥淣ot having access to health care has made me really depressed because it鈥檚 like down here in the South, we are only tolerated not accepted,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淓ven when it comes to health care, we are only given the bare minimum to exist. It keeps me depressed, I think about it all the time, and it feels like there is no way out. This case, fighting for my health, is the whole world to me, my whole life. If we are successful, it would mean everything to me.鈥�

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelovi膰 LGBTQ & HIV Project, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Georgia, and King & Spalding LLP.