Statement on Trans Rights
Local 328 and its Executive Board unequivocally condemn any restrictions, bans, or criminalization of gender affirming healthcare. Our members work at a healthcare institution, and we firmly believe and support OHSU’s mission to provide quality healthcare to all Oregonians. We can’t provide healthcare to all Oregonians without including transgender, gender-nonconforming, and non-binary individuals. Furthermore, AFSCME’s values include advocating for prosperity and opportunity for all working families. It is our belief that access to gender affirming care is key to our trans siblings prospering. And trans people deserve the opportunity to choose how they receive healthcare.
Across the nation right now there is an unprecedented attack on the civil rights of trans people. The legislation being proposed, whether it is preventing trans kids from playing on a sports team that matches their gender identity or preventing trans adults from wearing clothes that make them feel more at home in their bodies, is based in one simple thing:the ability to control how other people live their lives. We remain committed to supporting our members and that includes supporting autonomy and freedom for the trans people we represent, the trans people we serve, and the trans people in our community.
Furthermore, all leading medical organizations support access to gender affirming care and condemn criminalizing it. The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund has a list of leading medical groups that recognize the validity and need for gender affirming care. That list includes, but is not limited to:
The current legislative session in Oregon brought seven bills attacking trans people including two that are healthcare related. As bills are proposed across the country more frequently and they begin to affect our members directly, we realize that we can no longer stay silent on this topic. With that in mind we want to state again that Local 328 stands in solidarity with our trans siblings. We unequivocally condemn any restrictions, bans, or criminalization of gender affirming healthcare.