About 1 in 11 Americans is LGBTQ. They're your constituents and your neighbors, the kid down the street, the coworker in the next office, the veteran two doors down, somebody's daughter, somebody's dad. The federal government is stripping away their protections, and I'm asking you to stop it.
The reversal is recent and real. 26 states have passed bans on gender-affirming care for minors, and 24 are enforcing them. The Supreme Court let those bans stand, then ruled that Colorado's conversion therapy ban must face strict First Amendment scrutiny, putting 23 similar state laws at risk. An executive order signed in January 2025 suspended enforcement of discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This reaches real families. In Texas, a mother named Mia and her 14-year-old son waited over a year for an out-of-state appointment after the state's ban took effect, and families there pay $4,500 every six months for care insurance won't cover. Col. Bree Fram gave 22 years in uniform as an astronautical engineer, deployed to Iraq and Qatar, and was forced out for being transgender. We don't have skilled people to spare.
The toll on young people is measurable. The Trevor Project's 2025 survey of 16,000 LGBTQ youth found 36% seriously considered suicide last year and 1 in 10 attempted it. 44% who wanted mental health care couldn't get it. Suicide attempts rose 72% among trans youth in states with care bans. The 988 crisis line's LGBTQ youth service, which handled 70,000 contacts a month, was defunded in July 2025.
None of this matches the country. 72% of Americans support nondiscrimination protections. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society all support gender-affirming care.
I'm asking you to do four things. Oppose any federal restriction on gender-affirming care. Restore funding for the 988 LGBTQ youth crisis line. The Supreme Court already affirmed workplace protections in Bostock v. Clayton County, so enforce them. And back the Equality Act to write these protections into law.
Tell me where you stand on each. I'm a constituent, and I vote.
