LGBTQ+ Youth Rights

As someone with family members and close friends that are part of the LGBTQ+ community, Sarah has been an ally for many years. Recently, Sarah has been supporting her close friends who called her when they learned their daughter would be prevented from playing on her middle school’s field hockey team based on her sex assigned at birth. Sarah lives the life of an ally everyday and she has seen the cost to children and families when a young person is not supported in their identity and not loved for who they are.

Fortunately, we have seen growing visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth.

Recently, however, a flurry of state legislatures have taken up bills in reaction to this growing acceptance of queer youth. Many of these laws target transgender children and do everything from denying trans people protection from discrimination, banning trans students from participating in sports, and some would even block access to to life saving medical care.

These bills, based on fear and misunderstanding, often invoke protecting education or women’s sports in order to discriminate against trans kids. One such bill is now being proposed in Frankfort: Senate Bill 83. This bill would would prevent trans kids from participating in sports aligned with their identity, prevent designated agencies from investigating complaints of discrimination, and even allow schols to be sued for being more inclusive or, in effect, for not discriminating against transgender kids.

School sports are meant to teach our kids about team-work, responsibility, sportsmanship, and building social bonds. This bill prioritizes discrimination in the name of fairness, when neither being trans, nor medical care for trans youth confer any advantage to trans student athletes. The so-called “Save Women’s Sports Act” is harmful legislation in search of a problem.

Sarah believes that it is important to support the work of organizations that are supporting our LGBTQ+ Youth such as the ACLU, Louisville Youth Group, Sweet Evening Breeze and Fairness Campaign. We have to be for all people.

Even more disturbing, as advocates and legislators work to increase mental health protections for queer youth, it is concerning that some Republican legislators are looking to pass bills that would specifically prevent transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming health care. Sarah is committed to making sure all youth have access to all the healthcare services they need to live their fullest life as their true self.

Too frequently our youth receive poor quality of care and disingenuous support due to stigma, lack of youth-serving professionals’ competence, and societal insensitivity. According to national data by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the LGBTQ community faces disproportionately high rates of behavioral health conditions, including both mental health conditions and substance use disorders as a result. We have so many opportunities to better support positive outcomes for youths physical and mental health and laws must exist to ensure that LGBTQ individuals do not experience discrimination when seeking any kind of health care.