INTRO

Happy Monday and welcome back to Well Beings News! This past week brought us a familiar mix of policy victories worth celebrating and systematic challenges that remind us why this work matters. The research section is particularly rich this week—new insights on surgical outcomes plus critical findings on mental health and healthcare access barriers. Ready to dive in?

NEWS

Policy Wins and Setbacks Shape the Week

The week brought mixed news on the policy front, with advocates celebrating a significant victory while remaining vigilant about ongoing challenges. Anti-trans provisions were removed from Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" after the Senate parliamentarian ruled the measure violated the Byrd Rule, allowing Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care to continue. However, concerns persist about other aspects of the bill that could codify policies limiting gender-affirming care for trans individuals with private insurance, aligning with a recent CMS rule that excludes such care from essential health protections.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration faces multiple legal challenges over its systematic efforts to restrict trans healthcare access. A court ruling found that the administration unlawfully removed numerous health websites related to gender, impacting access to vital information for transgender and non-binary individuals on topics ranging from mental health to STIs and healthcare guidelines. The ruling mandates restoration of these critical resources.

Data Integrity, Research, Funding Under Fire

More troubling revelations emerged about the administration's approach to transgender health data. An investigation revealed that US health data was significantly altered to remove mentions of gender, with about half of studied datasets changed, raising serious concerns about data integrity and potential political motivations behind these edits. The full research findings published in The Lancet underscore the scope of this systematic data manipulation.

The week highlighted broader threats to transgender healthcare infrastructure. Planned Parenthood's lawsuit against the Trump administration underscores how potential clinic closures could severely limit access to gender-affirming care for trans individuals, and jeopardize healthcare for over a million patients. Additionally, proposed changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program may disproportionately impact organizations supporting transgender youth and immigrant rights, potentially leading to job losses and restricted access to affirming education.

At the state level, Virginia agreed not to fully enforce a 2020 law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors, settling a lawsuit from a conservative group. This decision allows voluntary talk therapy between counselors and patients (ie. SOGICE, aka “gender exploratory therapy”), raising serious concerns among those who know the deadly effects that conversion therapy can have on queer trans people.

Research and Understanding

The week saw important contributions to our understanding of transgender health experiences. An editorial in the International Journal of Transgender Health highlights the urgent need for healthcare advancements addressing middle-aged and older transgender and nonbinary individuals, calling attention to the underrepresentation of these communities in healthcare research and the importance of creating inclusive care practices.

Meanwhile, a narrative exploration of "trans brain fog" provides insight into a condition that may indicate gender dysphoria, with anecdotal evidence from transgender individuals reporting improvement in cognitive clarity after starting hormone replacement therapy, suggesting important connections between hormonal dysphoria and cognitive function.

DIGEST

Here’s what you may have missed last week at Well Beings News!

WHY UPGRADE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Read More at Well Beings News

• What Do Trans People Really Want from Providers?

• Peer Reviewed: Studying SOGICE with Willow Sipling

• In Visible Barriers: the PrEP Divide

• 5 LGBTQ+ Resources Every Health Worker Should Bookmark

COMING SOON

Stories to Watch Out For

• Awesome Affirming Websites: how to design for real inclusivity

• Dysphoria, Dysmorphia, and Disordered Eating

• Nonbinary in a Binary Data World: queering healthcare info systems

• PLUS: interviews with an HIV care advocate, a trans support group facilitator, a queer-focused therapy practice owner, and more!

Have a story you want to share with Well Beings News?