Statewide Advocacy Groups Denounce Harm Caused by Veto Override of Youth Gender-Affirming Care Ban, Launches the Trans Youth Emergency Project to Provide Direct Support for Families
Kansas families can now request support, including grant funding and patient navigation services. The expansion of the project comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering the bans, leaving families in limbo and forcing many to travel long distances and navigate a complex, expensive landscape to access care.
By a vote of 31-9 in the Senate and 84-35 in the House, the Kansas Legislature has overturned Governor Kelly’s veto of SB 63 and enacted the social and medical gender affirming care ban for Kansas youth. In response to the harm caused by the legislature, statewide advocacy groups have come together to uplift the support available to impacted families through a newly launched program to help Kansas families find access to this care in states without healthcare bans.
Equality Kansas and the Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE) have partnered to expand the Trans Youth Emergency Project (TYEP) into Kansas, providing financial and logistical support to the families of transgender youth impacted by Kansas’s law prohibiting access to transition-related care for minors. The Trans Youth Emergency Project is the only project of its scale and scope supporting families of transgender youth impacted by bans on gender-affirming care. The project provides 1-on-1 custom patient navigation services and supports families of transgender youth with emergency grants of $500, renewable four times per year, to help them travel out of state for care.
SB 63 is harmful for Kansas kids and violates parents rights. Parents, their children, and doctors should have the right to make medical decisions that are right for them without government interference. We are deeply disappointed in the legislature’s ceaseless attacks on transgender youth and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. We won’t stop fighting to protect the rights of transgender Kansans, both in the statehouse and in our communities, which is why we are proud to announce the launch of the Trans Youth Emergency Project to reduce the harm of this discriminatory law.
Taryn Jones (she/her), Policy Director of Equality Kansas
“Transgender youth, like all people, deserve the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies. Kansas politicians tried to take that away when they moved to ban gender-affirming care for youth in 2023 and 2024 – and now, sadly, this ban will become law. But we know our people are stronger than politics. We are proud to be a part of the Trans Youth Emergency Project, which will work to ensure trans youth in Kansas are still able to get the healthcare they need to thrive – safely and legally.”
Allison Scott (she/her), Director of Impact & Innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality
“Southern hospitality is about helping your neighbor and sharing your resources and strategies – and over the past two years our team has developed a scalable, impactful project that tangibly supports families of transgender young people. No one should feel helpless in the face of oppressive legislation – and no one should be forced to leave their home state to access healthcare – but as these bans continue to wreak havoc on the lives of so many families, the Trans Youth Emergency Project will be here to help.”
Melissa Stiehler (she/her), Director of Advocacy for Loud Light Civic Action
“Thousands of Kansans fought hard against this legislation – because we know that no one should be banned from accessing the healthcare that they need and deserve in our home state. We are heartbroken that legislators chose to listen to out of state special interest groups over their own constituents, and about the pain and chaos that this ban will cause for Kansas families. We want to ensure every transgender young person and their loved ones know that they belong in Kansas, and that so many Kansans support their dignity and humanity – no matter what this law says.”
Moti Rieber (he/him), Executive Director of Kansas Interfaith Action
“People of faith and conscience in Kansas are strongly opposed to this legislature's continued attacks on LGBTQ+ youth. Everyone, including trans youth, are beloved children of God, fully capable of determining for themselves (with their parents, faith leaders, and responsible medical and psychological professionals) what is best for themselves and their lives. The legislature’s insistence on criminalizing these children and their providers is the weaponization of ignorance and prejudice and should be denounced by all good people.”
Laurel Burchfield (she/her), Advocacy Director, Mainstream
“We are outraged that yet again the majority of the Kansas legislature has ignored sound advice from medical professionals, and impassioned pleas from LGBTQ+ Kansans, to stop targeting children with harmful legislation like this gender-affirming care ban. If we have learned one thing from this process, it is that the LGBTQ+ community and its allies are stronger than those in power who chose ignorance and hate. This legislature will not stop trans youth from growing into beautiful and strong trans adults, and we are proud to stand alongside them and our partners in supporting the Trans Youth Emergency Project (TYEP).”
Emily Wales (she/her), President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes
“At Planned Parenthood we see firsthand the positive, empowering impact that access to medically sound treatment has on transgender people in our communities. SB 63 not only harms transgender youth and their families but also sets a dangerous precedent of government overreach into private medical decisions. Planned Parenthood Great Plains remains committed to providing affirming care for transgender adults and PPGP Votes will continue advocating for a future where all patients can access the care they need without political interference.”
Haley Miller (she/her), Midwestern States Field Director, URGE
“We are deeply concerned about the passage of this dangerous bill which will hurt trans youth and prevent them from getting the health care they need and deserve. For two years young people organized, created coalitions and effectively blocked SB 63 from being passed. This year, extreme politicians had to rush through the legislative process, providing little to no notice of hearings and votes because they know that Kansans oppose this anti-Trans law. Make no mistake, this law will not erase trans youth, and together with the newly launched Trans Youth Emergency Project, we will fight back against the harmful effects of this law.”
Van Bailey (they/them), a patient navigator for CSE’s Trans Youth Emergency Project
“Every day I speak with families of transgender youth who are worried about the future. Many are panicking, unsure of where or when they’ll get the medicine that their child needs to continue leading a healthy, happy life. These laws are cruelly thrusting families into impossible choices, and it is deeply unfair. I’m honored that we can provide some measure of relief and support, talking families through their options and reminding them that there’s a whole community behind them, ready to pitch in and help them through this crisis.”
SB 63 Impact:
The harmful bill, which will immediately go into effect, will overrule healthcare decisions made by parents, in partnership with the child’s doctor, insert politicians into these highly personal, private decisions and will ban medications to transgender minors that are available for their cisgender counterparts, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy. SB 63 goes a step further by also banning social transitioning for minors. This bill defines “social transitioning” so broadly that it may ban state employees who “care [for] children” from allowing youth in their care to dress in the manner they desire or using the pronouns those minors use as part of their day-to-day life even with parental support. This could include social workers, teachers, school guidance counselors, and more.
This bill threatens medical providers, from therapists to nurses to doctors, with license revocation for providing best practice medical care, and with strict liability lawsuits for up to 10 years after they’ve provided this care. It also bans providers from obtaining liability insurance to protect from these lawsuits and this bill makes it harder for mental health providers to assist Kansas youth who need holistic healthcare to treat their mental health needs.
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