Hyacinth Piel came out as genderqueer 16 years ago when they went to a meeting with other transgender folks who finally gave them the words to understand their identity.
They were among a crowd of about 250 gathered in Federal Plaza on Saturday afternoon to protest last week’s Supreme Court decision upholding a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Piel said they came to the protest to stand up for trans kids who reminded them of themselves at a younger age.
“You have to pay it forward,” said Piel, 48. “I just hope what I’m able to chip in is enough to make things easier for those to come.”
Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss addressed the crowd before the group marched through the Loop. Both politicians spoke personally — Biss specifically as the father of two trans kids.
“I’ve done a lot of things in my life, the easiest was watching my children show me who they are and listening,” Biss said. “When you see the person you love most on this planet, who has been carrying 1,000 tons, start to push that weight off and exhale and be themselves. … It’s the easiest thing in the world.”
The decision came the same day the federal government announced it was shuttering the suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, despite 46% of trans youth having considered suicide in the last year.
In writing for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, Chief Justice John Roberts cited “open questions regarding basic factual issues” about care like puberty blockers in deciding to leave the issue to the states.
Amelia, a nurse who didn’t give her last name for fear of workplace retribution, said she had seen many patients, some as young as 12, attempt suicide in the wake of attacks on trans people.
Amelia said she came to the protest to continue the more than 100-year struggle of trans folks fighting for their healthcare.
“That was just crushing to see, a young person, with so much life ahead of them,” she said. “It takes a lot to see kids struggle in feeling that the world doesn’t want them. They feel that ending their lives is preferable to the future they face. It breaks my heart.”
Fourteen states and Washington, D.C., have shield laws for gender-affirming care, protecting patients and providers from legal actions outside the state, though Illinois is largely alone in the Midwest. Illinois law also prohibits gender identity discrimination from healthcare providers and requires state-regulated insurance plans to cover hormone therapy.
“No matter where you are, we’re here for you,” said Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front, the group that organized the protest. “We will not stand for this.”
Yet access is fragile in Illinois; UI Health and Lurie Children’s Hospital have both stopped gender-affirming surgeries for patients under 19.
Ellenore Delgado, an Edgewater resident and veteran, got healthcare through the federal government until the Trump administration cut access for trans service members. After losing her medications for two months, she said she knows the devastation trans kids are facing.
“That second month was miserable,” said Delgado, 35. “It just felt like taking huge leaps backwards.”
Many also fear that the ruling could have wider implications for adults. Among them, Julian Belz, a Hyde Park resident.
“Trans healthcare is a human right,” Belz, 23, said. “It’s essential we have the healthcare we need to thrive as people. … [Trans kids] deserve the same respect and bodily autonomy.”
