(from the Campaign for Southern Equality's website)

Health care is a human right and everyone should be able to access the healthcare that they need in their hometown. But right now, lawmakers all across the South are passing extreme legislation banning best-practice medical care for transgender youth. As a result, 75% of transgender youth in the South now live in a state where a ban on gender affirming care has passed. 

This barrage of cruel legislation is causing great distress for transgender youth and their families as they make plans for how to ensure youth can access health care. For some, this means traveling hundreds of miles several times a year; others are considering moving. Bottom line, families are doing everything they can to protect their children and make sure they have the care and support they need and deserve to thrive. 

In response, the Campaign for Southern Equality has launched the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP), a new regional effort which provides rapid response support directly to the families of youth who are impacted by anti-transgender healthcare bans in the South. Through STYEP, and in close partnership with state and local organizations, we are providing grants, patient navigation support, and accurate information to impacted families to ensure that youth can access the care they need and deserve, even in the face of oppressive laws. We have developed a regional referral network of providers in access states and are helping as many families as we can through this time of crisis.